Horseshoes and Hand Grenades
by moods424
Summary: There was nothing to put me in love with the good life - I'm in league with the the gangs, guns and the crime - There was no hollow promise that life would reward you - There was nowhere to hide in Tacoma.
1. Chapter 1

Four Years Earlier

He shifted in his seat and looked around. The stark whiteness of the room clashed terribly with the fluorescent jump suits creating a nauseating neon effect. The only sounds that he could hear were the hushed conversations of his fellow inmates and the shuffles of chairs and chains anchoring them where they sat. It was settings like this that made him nervous. Confined spaces he could handle, but environments where he had no control made him feel like he was coming unhinged. The woman crying to her husband next to him was grating on his last nerve and he subconsciously clenched and unfurled his fingers. His gaze jerked to the door as he heard the metal on metal noise as it was opening.

The camaraderie he felt for the man that entered paled in comparison to many other things that he'd experienced in his life.

"Koz." He stated simply, nodding to great the younger man as he approached. Koz or Kozik as we was known to the rest of his brothers was one of the few Tacoma SOA members that had managed to evade the gun bust that had landed the rest of them a 12 year stint in Washington State Penn. The former Tacoma Sergeant at Arms looked substantially less stoic than he had seem him look on his previous visits.

"Lee." Kozik replied, clapping the former Tacoma president on the back before taking a seat opposite him at the table. "How you guys holdin' up?"

"Same as last time, ready to get out of here. Whatever deal Charming worked out with the Mexicans has held off most of the bullshit that we had going on before. We'll make it. How is NOMAD treating you?" Koz glanced at Lee before realizing that Lee's eyes were fixed on the NOMAD patch on his leather.

After most of the Tacoma charter had been busted unloading guns from a shipping crate at Puget Sound there hadn't been enough of them left to carry on. Normally Lee would've called in reinforcements from Charming or Nevada, but they were dealing with the cartel war and enough shit that it would've stretched them all too thin. Kozik and Autie, the oldest member of Tacoma had been holding down the clubhouse during the bust and that left them without a charter – at least until the rest of the guys finished their sentence. Kozik had been offered NOMAD and quickly accepted. The lack of action made him restless. Autie had stuck around Tacoma keeping up appearances for a while, maintaining business at the shop until they fell behind on payments and that too was lost. The clubhouse now sat vacant – untouched by locals and forgotten with the exception of the faded "for sale" sign on the chained gate.

"NOMAD's good. Been spending a lot of time with SAMCRO with all of the shit they got coming their way. Ready to come back home," Koz nodded. Lee looked tired. He was probably in his mid 50s by Kozik's count. His salt and pepper hair had gone more salt than pepper in the 8 years they'd been in.

"Sorry you going to have to wait a while longer, Koz. Apparently we forgot to teach everyone about "good behavior"…I got Donut an' Hap in solitary again and JD had a little payback that he owed after taking that beating in the yard a few months back. " Lee raked a hand threw his hair and looked at Koz who suddenly looked a bit excited.

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I talked to Gemma last time I rode through Charming. She had some news…about Nat. Seems she's back," Koz reached inside his vest and pulled out a picture. The corners were a little bit tattered, but clearly visible was a beautiful young woman, late teens or early twenties in a graduation cap and gown, the black fabric setting off her pale skin and dark blonde hair. Lee took the photograph from Koz fighting back emotions that were always kept locked tight.

The last time he saw his niece, he was preparing to head out on a run. The run that ended up landing him in prison for 12 years. She was 13. He heard from his lawyer a few days later that she'd been collected by child protective services and would be sent to live with his ex wife until she was 18. He figured that was about the last he'd ever hear from her and had done his best to push her out of his mind. When her parents had died and she'd come to live with him when she was 10 he didn't know what in the hell he was supposed to do with her. His brother knew the life that he led – knew that caring for a child would be difficult if not impossible. But he figured that the will or whatever had sent Natalie to live with him probably was drawn up long before Leslie, his ex wife, had left him and moved clear across the country. About the time he figured Natalie would turn 18 he started to wonder if she'd come back, come to Tacoma, come to visit her uncle that she had loved so furiously. But years passed, she never came and he forced himself to stop thinking she would. Now, he hoped for the best. That she was far away from this life, happy, settled.

Sensing that Lee was deep in thought, Kozik gave him a minute. Clearing his throat he continued "seems your girl has become a fancy, college educated young lady. From what Gem knew, she went to school on the East Coast, met all of the requirements your ex set for her to gain access to her inheritance and as soon as they handed her this piece of paper," Koz tapped the picture, "she hightailed her pretty ass right back to Tacoma and bought back the shop."

"She WHAT?" Lee bellowed causing several other visitors and inmates to look his direction and a correction officer to take a few warning steps towards him. Kozik lifted his hand towards the guard to indicate that everything was under control.

"You heard me. Bought it a couple months ago. Did some renovating, hired a few guys to run the bays, she runs the office and Gem said she even said something about findin' a couple of prospects…" Koz trailed off and actually started laughing. A truly contented, disbelieving laugh that after a few minutes of stunned silence Lee joined in. "Looks like we're back in business, brother."

After his visit with Koz, Lee took some time to himself before he shared the news with his brothers. He was pleased - no, DAMN proud of his niece. Surviving his she-bitch of an ex, going to college…but he wasn't sure what to think of her coming back to Tacoma. Natalie had always been tough, bullheaded even and stubborn to the core. She was her father's daughter and more like her uncle than he'd cared to realize. But she wasn't hard. Underneath the big talk and the strong exterior she was soft hearted. Not made for this life. But there was nothing that Lee could do about that now – not from inside anyway.

The girl did what she wanted, always did. He had told Koz to keep an eye on her. He couldn't officially start up the charter with all of the guys still in lockup – he'd have to stay NOMAD, but at least he could make Tacoma Auto his home base between runs until the rest of them were out. The last thing he'd told Koz? Under no circumstances did he want Natalie to visit. This wasn't the environment for her and he didn't want her to see him for the first time in 8 years in lockup. He wanted to see her on the outside, where he could hug her properly. Plus he feared if he saw her it would make the next four years hell.

Present Day

The light was blinding as they walked through the heavy metal doors. It took a few moments for their eyes to adjust, but when they did Lee thought it was the second best thing he could've ever imagined. In two neat lines were shiny black and chrome Harleys, polished and finally tuned like they'd never been ridden.

"Thought you boys might need a ride," Clay, the mother charter president said, clapping Lee on the back. It looked like most of SAMCRO had come out for the occasion.

"Well, this is one hell of a welcome," Lee responded – watching his brothers greet one another with pride. "Didn't expect so many of you to show up."

Clay looked at him knowingly, his lips curling into an almost sinister smile. "Brother, this ain't nothing. Wait til you see what your little lady has waitin' for you at the club house." Lee shared a questioning look with some of his brothers before pulling spotting Kozik and pulling him aside briefly.

"How's she doing?"

"You'll see for yourself in a few hours. She was pretty pissed when we said she couldn't come. Wanted to ride on the back of one of the bikes, even said she'd ride in the tow truck. But she's been planning something like I've never seen at the clubhouse. Was better she stayed there – give the boys a little time to cool down. She's good man. Real good." Kozik had promised Lee 4 years ago that he would look out for Natalie and he had. It wasn't always easy and she didn't usually give a shit what he said, but he did his best by his brother. "Sorry I couldn't get up and give you more updates but shits been crazy man, there, Charming – it'll be good for us to get back up and running."

"Amen to that," Clay appeared next to them, holding out the Tacoma President's cut out to Lee. "Ready to ride Prez?"

"Never been more ready for anything".

She heard the Harleys long before she saw them and took one last look around the yard. There were people everywhere. SOA members from several chapters, old lady's…not one to be outdone, she'd even done her very best to gain some hang arounds in the past months to meet any of the biker's needs that she wasn't equipped to.

"I've never seen anything like this baby," Gemma said leaning against the stairs that led up to Natalie's office and lighting a smoke. "And I plan one HELL of a party."

Natalie laughed, letting some of the tension that she was feeling go. "Thanks Gem, I know that's some kinda compliment coming from you."

"Seriously, Natalie. What you did here – with the guys, runnin' the shop, givin' em hope on the inside. Nobody could've done that but you. You coming back here was the best thing that coulda happened to this club."

Natalie leaned into Gemma and closed her eyes for a minute before she heard the gates swinging open and the unmistakable roar of Harleys rolling in. She climbed to her feet quickly, smoothing her shirt and jeans, smiled gratefully at Gemma and moved confidently through the crowd.

"Get ready everybody. Shit's about to get crazy," she heard Tig, the SAMCRO Sergeant at Arms, yell as the men parked their bikes. The crowd surged forward to greet the riders, but Natatlie was already out ahead of them and as she approached everyone seemed to hang back a few steps, to let her have her moment.

She took another step forward confidently, brushing her bangs out of her face. More sets of eyes looked at her than she'd been expecting and she faltered in her stance slightly, flinching. Kozik stepped forward, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She righted her posture before clearing her throat slightly.

"Welcome home, boys!" The cheers behind her and the warmth that surrounded her in that moment had made everything worth it. And then she saw him. Her uncle, certainly older than she'd last seen him, but every bit as she remembered him stepped forward and opened his arms. She felt like she was 13 again, rushing to him as he lifted her slight frame off the ground. He held her for what felt like minutes before releasing her with a meaningful look filled with so much emotion she was glad that there wasn't anything said or she probably would've lost it. And Gemma had worked far too long on her smoky makeup to have it washed away now.

"Later," she promised, her voice suddenly feeling thick as he was greeted by Autie and some of the other Sons.

"How?" JD simply asked, picking Natalie up. Natalie wasn't sure whether he was referring to her, the garage or the huge group gathered in the parking lot. So she just laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. JD had been one of the few sons who paid her some attention when she was younger. Many of them had viewed her as a distraction, or a nuisance. Clubhouses and garages weren't meant for kids, and especially not for little girls. But JD had taken the time to talk to her sometimes and make her laugh and smile. Over his shoulder, she looked to the other sons Lorca, her uncle's VP, and a few she barely remembered –Bowie, Bomber, Happy and Donut. They were looking around, smiling and she committed the image to memory because she knew after the celebration tonight, tomorrow it was back to business.

JD released her and disappeared into the crowd after placing a kiss on her cheek. She turned to the others. "C'mon guys. Let's get you a drink." And without turning back led the way to the clubhouse.

"Hutch!" Natalie yelled entering the slightly less cramped space. Most of the crowd was still in the parking lot greeting one another. The guy behind the bar turned his buzzed head to the sound of her voice and smiled before he noticed her company and his smile faltered a little. He was young, just a little younger than Natalie.

"Hutch, meet the guys. Bomber, Donut, Bowie, Happy and Lorca. Guys, one of your prospects. Can I have a beer please?"

The prospect moved quickly, popping the top off of her bottle and sliding it into her hand before taking orders from the other men. He was visibly intimidated. Although he'd been a mechanic at the shop for several years and dealt with Kozik and many of the other charters' members, being faced with Tacoma charter bikers felt like something different entirely. And he couldn't help but feel scrutinized by their harsh gaze.

"Didn't know we let women in the club," one of them said icily and Natalie quickly turned her head to look at him. Happy. His gravely voice and menacing glare was enough to send some of the most hardened men running for the door. But Natalie had been through enough shit, enough heartache and enough stress to last a lifetime. She stared back, though certainly not with the same intensity. She didn't speak and Happy continued. "Namin' prospects is a club decision."

She opened her mouth to respond before snapping it closed quickly. "You know what? I don't have to answer to any of you for anything. You don't know anything about what life has been like here for the last four and a half years while I've been running this place. I know this is your club – your clubhouse. But you won't walk in here and disrespect me, undercut what I've worked my ASS off to build. Enjoy your party tonight. We can get back to it tomorrow." She smiled weakly at Hutch before stepping away from the men. Once she had disappeared in the sea of people, Donut turned to Happy.

"Dude, dick move."

Happy didn't respond – he was still staring at the spot where the little firecracker had gone into the crowd equal parts impressed and hateful. Rarely did someone try to put him in his place. But when they did, they didn't ever just walk away. He was one of the few men that was violently opposed to Natalie running the shop, even if it wasn't really club related. They didn't need someone picking up the slack for them. Especially some kid. Happy had never bothered with her when she used to tag along on her uncle's heels. As far as he was concerned women were meant to be crow eaters and maybe old ladies if you found just the right combination but certainly no bitch was going to be his boss. He'd play her game. Wait until tomorrow. But then she'd know that he sure as fuck wasn't going to answer to her in any way.

"Hey boys, what do you think of the place. Not bad huh?" Kozik joined the others near the bar. It seemed like more people were shifting out of the chilly night air into the clubhouse. Happy grunted and tuned out the rest of the small talk going on around him.

A short time later the crowd fell silent as Clay stepped forward to address everyone, Lee by his side.

"I can't tell you how blessed we are to have our brothers back with us and all of our family here with us tonight." Clay glanced briefly at his wife before looking around the crowded room. "We are here to not just celebrate the release of our brothers, but to officially reinstate the Tacoma Charter of Sons of Anarchy!" Clay's voice raised as he reached the end of the sentence and the crowd roared all around him. He gestured for Lee to step forward and say a few words. "I'm a man of few words, I don't think that's a secret." A low rumble swept through the crowd as he continued, "we're looking forward to getting back to the way that things should be. And we need to take a moment – quiet down, quiet down – we'll get back to celebratin' in a minute. We need to take a moment to thank the person that not only made this possible sooner than we ever thought, but better than we ever imagined. Natalie, can you please come up and join me?"

The crowd cheered again, though not nearly as loudly and in Happy's opinion it was because many of them shared his displeasure at Natalie being not only acknowledged, but recognized by the mother charter as an integral part of the Tacoma Chapter. They COULD have done it without her. Yeah, it would've taken a while – and they might have lost the clubhouse but they could've done it. And Happy would've rather it been that way.

The blonde stepped up on the stage. She hugged Clay before hugging her uncle and turning to the crowd. On the surface she looked calm. But Happy had been trained for 37 years of his life and 17 years in the club to look beyond the surface and it was obvious with the subtle shake of her hand and the way her eyes darted just slightly, that she was nervous. She held up a hand to draw attention back to her.

"I just want to say thank you to everyone for coming tonight to welcome our guys home after being gone for far too long. I am so grateful for the help that this family has given me over the last few years and truly couldn't have gotten to this point without the support from Clay and Gemma and the rest of you. So kick back, drink up and let's get this party started!" The volume reached its peak and the girl hugged the charter president and the national president before disappearing. Happy looked around briefly to identify where she'd gone. He didn't like uncertainty and that girl brought more than enough questions to his mind. He planned to keep an eye on her.

"What are you looking for killer?" Koz appeared suddenly behind him, nudging him with a shoulder.

"Nothin'," Happy responded, shrugging slightly. "Just checking the place out."

"Yeah? Not bad, huh?" Koz might have been drunk already though they'd been there for less than an hour, Happy noted as he studied his slightly reddened face and watery eyes.

"S'alright, not quite sure I like thinking the girl thinking she's club," he replied honestly.

"Natalie?" Koz seemed surprised and Happy really should've known better. Koz had had a soft spot for the little brat when she was a kid. She was pretty, even Happy could admit that. It wouldn't have surprised him if Kozik's soft spot had turned into a hard on for the girl. After all, he'd been practically babysitting her for the last four years. "Nah, Nat's family, Hap. Always has been. Practically Lee's kid, you know. And she's smart. She cares about this family, cares about this club."

Happy didn't say anything as Koz continued to prattle on about the girl and all of her winning attributes and assets. Instead he tuned him out and scanned the crowd intently again, trying to discern where she'd gotten off to.

Natalie slipped out of the crowded room and headed straight to her office. She was never really one for a big party – didn't terribly like the crowds, though she enjoyed the music and watching everyone else. She just didn't like people brushing up against her and especially in a place like this at a party like tonight's she was more likely than not to lose more personal space then she was comfortable with.

She was so settled into hearing the throbbing of the bass coming through the walls she didn't even hear anyone enter her office until she heard someone clear their throat behind her.

"Hey stranger," she smiled as she turned and saw her uncle. "Grab a seat."

Lee obliged and slipped into one of the worn chairs next to Natalie's desk. He took a moment to look at her, truly look at her. She looked like her father. Tall, slender but she had her mother's nose and smile. Her dark blonde hair fell part way down her back and was cut in what he supposed was a fashionable manner. In fact, there was an awful lot about her that appeared to be fancied up. She wasn't dressed like any of the women who used to hang around the garage, or any of the women that were here tonight – including Gemma. She looked more like she belonged in a cocktail lounge with her dainty teardrop diamond earrings and large silver cocktail ring. The clothing that she wore looked expensive, more expensive than anything that Lee owned, that was for sure. She had on dark denim jeans and a black top that floated away from her frame. She didn't wear boots like most of the women, though she did wear heels, and Lee was pretty sure they would be lethal as he took in the four-inch pencil thin monstrosities. She was beautiful, and he was reminded looking at her that she didn't belong in a place like this.

"It's so good to see you," he choked out. He really was a man of few words, especially when emotions were involved. She smiled and rolled her chair closer, taking his hand. "What you've done here," he gestured around the office. "I'll never be able to repay you. I'm proud. So God damned proud of you." A tear rolled down his weathered cheek and he reached up to brush it away with his free hand roughly.

Natalie brushed a few tears away on her own. When she spoke, her voice was thick with emotion. "I'd do anything for my family. And that's what we are. Maybe not me and all of them. But you and me, Koz, even Gemma and Clay. We're family. And if the rest of them are your family that's good enough for me. When you went away – I was never able to - " Natalie swallowed thickly, getting a hold of her emotions. She had barely shed a tear in years – she wasn't going to fall apart now. "I was never able to find that feeling of family. With mom and dad gone – Aunt Leslie just wasn't…she was never family, Uncle Lee. So as soon as I had the chance I knew I had to come back here. Tacoma is home." She smiled at her uncle and patted his hand gently. She knew he was struggling with his emotions.

"Just remember – we have all kinds of time now to catch up on what we missed." He nodded, grateful for a slight shift in mood. He took a look around the office and through the window that led to the garage. Everything looked similar, but different, cleaner, a bit more organized than he remembered.

"Where do you stay?" His house had gone into foreclosure like the business when they had gone to prison. He wasn't sure how much her parents had left her when they died, but they had worked hard for a living and he didn't imagine it had been enough to buy the garage back and have somewhere reasonable to live.

"You're looking at it. I renovated the storage loft into a small apartment. It's more than enough room for me, but I'm afraid that YOU will be stuck back in your old dorm. I freshened them all up a bit, but its nothing fancy. I had started out staying there but there are certain things that can't be unheard once you hear them through the walls so I figured it was better for me to remove myself from the situation."

"Fair enough," Lee answered. "Garage in your name?"

Right down to business, Natalie thought. "Yes sir, garage, clubhouse, tow trucks, land…everything. And at this point, I plan to keep it that way. I've spent a lot of sweat, blood and tears on this place. I don't plan on interfering with club business, but I don't expect the club to interfere with mine, either. I've got spots for a few of the guys who are interested. I've got a couple of prospects for you – guys that have been here for a while. Not official or anything. I know I don't have that kind of power. I'm not club. But they're legit. Koz with vouch for 'em. They've been here with me practically since the beginning." She did her best to look tough as she stared her uncle down, secretly worried that he would hate that she wanted to stay and run the garage. But she knew that they let Gemma run Teller-Morrow in Charming and Gemma thought that she was doing one hell of a job. Surely that had to mean something.

Lee mulled over this new information. He had never really cared for the garage, more than it gave them a place to work on their bikes and a legitimate business front as they brought dirty money in the back door. He didn't know much about what had been going on at Tacoma Auto since she'd taken over but from what Kozik said and what Clay had hinted at earlier, she had done one hell of a job building a successful business.

"Your place safe? I don't much like the idea of you living here – especially knowing the heat that the club can bring." Natalie rolled and pursed her lips together for a minute, fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

"This is where I prefer to be, if that makes any difference." Her uncle wasn't really the overprotective type. When she'd come to live with him at 10 she was practically going on 30, having lost her parents. He never tried to really step into the role, instead guiding her and giving his opinion – until she went to live with his ex. He could already tell that living with Leslie through her teens had brought out a stubborn, defiant edge in her. "As far as I'm concerned, the clubhouse is yours – I will be in there periodically but I will never overstep my boundaries. I may not have been with you for too long, but I know the rules and I've been enforcing them even in your absence these last years. I know some of the guys won't like it, but when they're in the garage, my office, my building, they will respect me. I think I've earned that much."

Lee nodded slowly, drawing in a deep breath. He didn't have a problem with her terms, but Natalie was right about two things: she sure as hell had earned respect and some of the guys not liking it? Well, that was one hell of an understatement.

Happy sat leaning on the picnic table enjoying the fresh air and taking a deep drag off his smoke when he saw Lee emerge from the office attached to the garage. He was halfway back to the clubhouse when he noticed that the kid had moved to the doorway. He watched as she gathered a few things, stepped out, set the alarm code and locked the door. What he wasn't anticipating was that she didn't move to leave. Instead, she moved to the side of the building, unlocked another door and moved inside. Happy was confused for a minute before the lights flickered on and reveled that the storage space wasn't full of old boxes and junk. Instead he could see the distinctive gleam of a stainless steel refrigerator.

"God damn, bitch fucking lives here," he said to no one but himself before snuffing his cigarette on the picnic bench and shoving off the table top, heading inside to find some female company – the kind that knew their place.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi Everyone! Sorry it took so long to put this chapter up. I am a few ahead and am planning on posting 1-2 a week depending on how well the story keeps flowing. I went home for the holidays and neglected to save the next chapter in my account so I didn't get it until I got back into work today and pulled it off the computer. So again, sorry and thanks for your patience!

I'm not huge on author notes but I wanted the last chapter to kind of stand on its own so I have a few things to throw in now. Right now the story is rated T but based on where it's heading I think I may change it at some point to M – I will let you know when that happens so that no one misses it based on their filters.

The summary for this story: **There was nothing to put me in love with the good life - I'm in league with the the gangs guns, and the crime - There was no hollow promise that life would reward you - There was nowhere to hide in Tacoma **is taken from lyrics from the song Thrice All American by Neko Case. I'll be using these lyrics and others throughout the story, but just wanted to mention it since I think the song, and this verse in particular, is fitting.

I want to thank everyone who added this to favorite story/story alert. It really means a lot to me! I also want to thank the people who reviewed my first chapter and share a little bit of feedback. So thank you AngieInWonderland, Happy's Girl, Spy Glass, PiratesLife and HapsOldLadylove.

I really wanted to respond to two of these reviews in particular:

PiratesLife – I'm glad that you appreciate the character that Natalie is. A lot of stories on here, especially Happy centric stories tend to feature kind of damsels in distress or really hard bitches that are super tough. I wrote a character that I found to be more relatable. In this chapter you will begin to see her unravel a bit – and she will unravel quite a bit before she builds herself back up and finds her place in the MC world. Keep letting me know what you think – I would love to get your feedback as Natalie and the plot continue to evolve.

Spy Glass – I know your review was anonymous, so I hope you find your way back to this story and are able to see this. I appreciate your criticism very much. I understand what you are saying because like you, I tend to be a little bit more critical of the way that women are viewed in the MC (**Spoiler Alert if you haven't seen season 4** – when Tara and then Gemma bust in on church at the end of the finale I was yelling at the TV that it would never happen, no matter how dramatic the happenings were.) I read back over the part that you didn't feel would be accurate and at first I agreed with you more than not and the more I thought about it – I don't feel like Natalie really did anything that required any sort of reaction from Happy there. He knows he doesn't like her – it was the first time she kind of "overspoke" and certainly won't be the last. And I promise you, there will be repercussions when she doesn't act in the way that Happy finds appropriate. As I told PiratesLife above, Natalie is going to become kind of unraveled and this tough, respect me persona that she puts forward is going to break down a bit before she finds her place. I hope you stick with me and continue to share any comments and criticism that you have. Your comment definitely helped to shape this chapter a bit and maybe explain some of Natalie's actions and defiance and the history of how she got where she is.

The next chapter or two should get all of the character and charter backstory out of the way so we can really get into the action!

Phew – sorry I know that was long. Enjoy and please let me know what you think!

Chapter 2

It was 6:45 am and the air in the Tacoma Auto lot felt heavy with moisture. You could see the thickness, still smell the smoke from the barrels that had burned late into the night. The party had started to die down around 4 o'clock.

Natalie almost wanted to go into the clubhouse to see what carnage was left in the wake of the gathering, but knew it could wait til later. Instead she headed down to her office, flipped on the lights and got down to business, even though she'd closed the garage for the day and they didn't have anything going on until Monday morning. There was always something to be done, paperwork to file, taxes, books. She had started our relying heavily on Gemma before hiring a local accountant to teach her the ropes and had been on her own for the better part of two years at this point. Business had been slow after she had reopened the shop. Public opinion seemed to fall somewhere between general avoidance of the former biker hangout and fear of what would happen if they stepped foot in the damned place. Truly Natalie originally thought that most people had forgotten about the dusty old building, hidden back through the industrial park and near the train yard.

When she had returned to Tacoma at 21, her fancy journalism degree with a minor in business framed and matted in a box in her car, she wasn't sure what to expect. Her aunt had done her best to keep her from coming to Tacoma, telling her stories about Uncle Lee and the Sons, awful, vile things. Natalie wasn't so naive to think that many of these stories weren't true or at least based in truth. She knew that they were more than a group of guys that loved Harleys. She had known even when she first stepped foot in the clubhouse to keep her head down and mouth shut. And back then she was only 10. But at this point it was more that a clubhouse to her – more than something that her uncle loved. It was her business, her livelihood and the last remnants of her parent's hard work had gone into buying it and getting it up and running.

She had found the garage abandoned. Overgrown and forgotten, it had clearly fallen into disrepair. She hadn't anticipated it being unoccupied and was prepared to haggle, hell – sell her soul to whoever owned it if necessary. But that hadn't been necessary and the bank had been pleased to unload the "cursed" property for much less than she would've paid. The loan officer had looked at her with thinly veiled pity when she said she was hoping to re-open the garage. But she had held her head high in her best-tailored dark gray suit and thanked him with her best east coast manners and walked out, head held high and keys in hand.

Natalie knew that in some ways she was a far cry from that 21-year-old young woman. Her contractor started renovations immediately, fixing broken windows, updating the garage bays with new lifts and some general refreshing of the property. She hadn't planned on calling Charming or letting anyone know that she was back until she had found some success on her own. She wasn't the type to ask for help – stubborn pride she supposed – she had been known to refuse help even when it had become plainly obvious that she needed it. Right or wrong, some things needed to be done yourself, no matter how much longer it would take than normal. That was when she'd received her first visit from the Tacoma Kings. She'd later come to understand that they were small town, no national affiliation and seen as more of a gang than an MC. The first time they crossed her path, her door had been kicked in three weeks after construction was done, when she was at the garage by herself. She had hidden in the bathroom adjacent to her office, hand clamped over her mouth desperately hoping to quiet the sobs that she couldn't stop from coming. She'd stayed in there for hours after she heard them leave, the creaks and strains of the old building doing little to soothe her. Her first call was to Charming, her second to the local PD. There was a deputy there who vaguely remembered her, certainly remembered her uncle and he'd headed over to the property to take her report right away.

Most of SAMCRO had showed up the next morning. Natalie was rattled to the core, nearly burned the place to the ground herself just to escape it, but she steeled herself to face the bikers with a strong front. Clay assured her that it wasn't about her or bad blood, just a turf war. The Tacoma Kings, mostly Mexican, had taken over Tacoma, running drugs and god knows what else through the port city. Word had gotten out that someone affiliated with the Sons was opening Tacoma Auto and they thought sending a message to the young girl they'd seen going in and out of the place would be enough to put an end to it. That was when Natalie realized she had better cowboy up, prove that she wasn't scared, that the only message that she'd received was to stand her fucking ground.

Clay had sent Kozik back to NOMAD out of Tacoma and "stationed" Tig and Juice with her temporarily in case she had any more "visitors". Juice had installed security around the lot and in her office and the clubhouse. She stayed in one of the dorm rooms – whose she wasn't sure. No matter how hard she scrubbed and tried the smoke and must seemed to be soaked into the walls. And the things she heard when all three men had taken up residence? They were enough to make a sailor blush. Juice had actually been the one to suggest the loft space above the garage as an apartment. Said he could rig it up with all kinds of security so she felt safe. Koz and Tig gave her their own brand of security system, a 9 MM she kept in her office drawer and a 40 caliber that took up residence in her nightstand. Autie, an original charter member who had avoided prison returned as the garage manager and things started to level out. Clay said they had "taken care" of the Mexican problem and pulled Tig and Juice back to charming – leaving her with Autie and Koz when he wasn't needed.

"Don't take shit from nobody," Gemma had told her over the phone when she didn't think she could keep toughing it out on her own. She paused taking a long drag from her cigarette before continuing, "friend, enemy, you earned your right to that baby. So if they have a gun to your head, if they're going to kill you or worse, you keep your shit together. For yourself, your uncle, your MC. Find your place and know it, but don't let ANYBODY bully you or take what's rightfully yours and that includes your pride, baby." So two months later when she'd had another run in with what was left of the Kings organization, she made Kozik and Autie promise that it was her story to tell and not something to be shared with anyone, Sons, her uncle or otherwise.

Natalie thought back to her conversation with Gemma often, with customers, visiting members from other charters. She had created her best Gemma-like alter ego and wore it like armor to face things that she normally would've been frightened or intimidated by and that "fake it til you make it" strategy worked so well that most days she didn't even feel like it was a façade, just who she'd become.

She was lost in paperwork and was startled to realize when she looked at the clock that several hours had passed at it was nearing 11 o'clock. Standing, she finger brushed her hair into a low pony tail and straightened her light gray wrap sweater before emerging from her office. Not much had changed in the last four hours. The haze seemed to have lifted from the parking lot, the sun peaking through the clouds on occasion.

Natalie steeled herself for whatever the day would bring, squared her shoulders and walked confidently into the clubhouse.

They had been sitting in church for nearly two hours. The key players from Charming were around the table in addition to the recently reinstated Tacoma members and the room was crowded and hot. Not to mention that more than a few of them were still feeling rough from celbrating the night before.

Kozik was tired. He'd been up until the haze of alcohol had guided him to a lovely redhead around three and to his dorm. He'd had so much to drink that he had passed out immediately after, which she had apparently taken as an invitation to stay. Waking up to a headache and finding a bitch still in your bed was Kozik's least favorite kind of morning surprise. He raked a hand across his eyes roughly and looked around the table before realizing that everyone was listening to Clay intently.

"…regular shipments should be able to resume through the docks in a couple of weeks. We'll be able to ride back up and arrange the meet, introduce everyone – then go forward you should be able to handle it smoothly on your own. IRA already met Koz, Autie's been holding down the fort here. Anything you think I'm forgettin'?"

Clay directed his question at Koz and he wished that he'd heard the beginning of what Clay had been saying. About the last damn thing he needed right now as his head pulsed and churned was to repeat something the mother charter president had just said.

"Not much, Natalie has some sort of understanding with the local PD dating back to the break in– should keep us off the radar a bit, or at least let us know when we're on it." Clay studied Kozik for a minute before looking around the room and addressing his brothers again.

"For those of you who don't know, Tacoma Auto had a little Mexican infestation when Natalie purchased the property. Kings. Seems they moved in when you guys went to lock-up. Broke in, tore up the place trashed some shit – nothing major. The problem has been more or not rectified, has it not?" Clay's steely gaze turned back to Koz. Kozik now realized his misstep. The Kings were a forgotten issue, nothing worth focusing on and certainly nothing a chapter that would again be responsible for importing firearms, needed to be distracted with.

"Yeah," Kozik clarified, nodding emphatically as he looked around at his brothers. "Just a minor turf war. Tig and I took care of most of them. Think they still run some low level stuff around town but nothing that should interfere with our business at this point. "

Autie cleared his throat across the table and looked pointedly at Kozik, "I don't know if we should completely dismiss them though -"

Clay cut him off before he cold continue, "SOA don't dismiss anybody – keep an ear to the ground – you hear they're starting shit, doing anything that could interfere with business – then we'll take a look in their direction. Until then, that's the last I want to hear about the Tacoma Kings."

Happy sat silently, leaned low in his chair observing his brothers. It was part of what made him sharp and keen, sneaky…he was able to know what someone was thinking or what move they would make next more times than not by just listening, watching, waiting. He hadn't missed Kozik put his dumb drunk hungover boot square in his mouth and bring up shit that sounded squashed. What did interest him about that however, was not what Kozik said, but the prodding look Autie had given him, wide eyed across the table. There was certainly more to be said about the Tacoma Kings it would seem – and Happy would find out what that was.

Natalie looked up when she heard the heavy doors scrape open, indicating the end of church. She had just about finished cleaning the clubhouse, with the exception of the dorms. There were a few hang arounds or as the boys called them "crow eaters" that hadn't left yet and helped tidy up a bit after the "Prospects" were called in to church, Natalie hoped to be officially recognized. She knew the next action item on her to do list today was to meet with her Uncle Lee and some of the guys and go over what was going on at the shop. They had tomorrow off, but come Monday, would need to be prepared to dive right in and get things done.

"15 minutes?" she asked her uncle as she passed him dragging a black garbage bag full of bottles. He motioned for one of the prospects to come and take the bag.

"Nice," Natalie congratulated, knocking Jimmy in the shoulder and checking out his new leather. "Looks good on ya!" Jimmy smiled quickly before grabbing the bag and heading into the parking lot. She winked at Hutch across the room as he took his place behind the bar. Hutch had always been a shoe in for Prospect…his father, Tim Hutchinson had been a Tacoma member with Autie and Uncle Lee for a long time. He had gotten really sick and died before Natalie had come to Tacoma. Cancer she thought, but wasn't sure. So when Hutch had come around the shop asking for work and said his dad was a Son, Natalie was grateful to have him on board. He was only a year or two younger than her and they shared a close friendship that had been forged over the loss of their fathers and trying to jump-start the shop with limited resources. Jimmy on the other hand, was a little bit of a loose cannon. Natalie definitely thought that he had potential but it had taken her a while longer to get used to the idea of him as a Son. He started out as a mechanic, hired by Autie to get underneath the cars and do the serious stuff that his deteriorating joints didn't permit him doing any longer. But he'd done his time and both Koz and Autie thought he had potential.

Natalie grabbed another garbage bag and headed back towards the dorms. She would have someone in to clean the bathrooms once a week after everything settled. For now, she just wanted to collect any bottles and half eaten food that would rot and proliferate the smells that she fought so hard to clean out of these rooms. She was in the third room on the left, across from the bathroom with her back to the door when she was startled. Happy.

She jumped back quickly, dropping the bottle in her hand before she could get it above the bag and it shattered leaving stale beer and thick shards of glass scattered in the doorway, blocking her exit.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," she didn't make eye contact, instead moved to pick up the larger pieces and move them into the bag.

"Didn't expect you to be in my room," he replied simply. His voice was always rough. She didn't know if it had just came that way, though she couldn't imagine a child with that gravel, smoke filled tone, or if it was from years of smoking, drinking and carousing. She knew it probably wasn't from talking too much.

She smiled tightly. It wasn't difficult to tell that Happy didn't like her. Since returning yesterday, he stared at her intensely whenever forced to address her, almost as if he was looking through her. And at other times, it was like she never existed. Unless she was speaking directly to him, she may as well have been a ghost. "Just grabbing a few bottles." She resisted the urge to tell him that it was actually HER room really, the whole building was. But after her conversation with Lee yesterday about the Sons being able to use the clubhouse undeterred, she knew she would just be saying it to be difficult.

'Think Gemma." She reminded herself. Toeing the line between tough and bitch was difficult at best if not damn near impossible next to someone with such a foreboding presence as Happy. He was still standing there staring at her when she looked up from grabbing the larger pieces of glass and collected her garbage bag.

"I'm sorry to intrude," she smiled tightly again. "I'll be back in a few minutes to clean up the rest of that glass."

He made a small noise that sounded a little bit like a snort before he walked past her and through the glass, his boots violently crunching the remaining pieces of glass.

"Perfect," she said quietly to no one but herself. "This meeting should go well."

Natalie was sitting in an office chair that she'd moved into the first bay of the garage. A small stack of papers sat neatly in her lap. Her Uncle Lee was already standing next to her, leaning on one of the engine hoists while the others trickled in. Both Jimmy and Hutch worked full time in the garage, but now that they would have official Prospect duties and all kinds of bitch work, Natalie imaged, it would take several more bodies, all working part time so they could keep up with club business before they were able to meet the demand of a 4 bay shop five and a half days a week. Once it seemed like everyone who was coming had gathered around her, Natalie stood, brushing her bangs out of her eyes and began.

"I know you all have other shit you'd rather be doing right now, so I appreciate you taking a few minutes to listen to what I have to say. We have been running steady, increasing even, business over the last six months or so. With Jimmy and Hutch officially Prospecting I know they aren't going to be able to work for me full time so all of you interested in part time work, let me know. I probably can fit all of you in. Pay is decent, though I know it's not really about the money." She paused before continuing, knowing that this was going to be the tough part.

"I understand that club business comes first, regardless of what's going on over here. But I do have a business to run. So if you need to leave for club business or personal business, I respect that. But you need to respect me. Communication is essential. You need to leave? Let me know so I can get someone else working on what you're working on. I have worked very hard at getting this garage up and running again and to this level of prosperity, I don't need to blow through deadlines and botch work. Not too hard, huh?"

"I can give you something hard if you're looking, doll," Kozik catcalled from the back of the group of 7 or so bikers.

"Cute Kozy….Real fucking cute. Which brings me to my last point. When you are in this building, I am your boss. I am the owner, I am in charge and I would like to be respected as such. If I ask you to do something, I expect you to do it. If you have a problem with that, this isn't going to work. I will keep to my business too and have no intention of being in anyone's face about anything. You do your job, I do mine, clear?"

More or less everyone nodded. Natalie set the stack of papers on her chair with a box of pens. Please write down about how many hours you plan on being here a week and let me know what days aren't good for you because of standing club business." A couple of guys started to talk over her so Natalie held her hand up before continuing. "I know you'll have things that will come up. I'm just asking for a generalized guess of when you will be around so I can plan out a tentative schedule."

This seemed to have appeased everyone and Natalie turned and headed into her office. She was pulling out old employee records to update and new paperwork for the others who hadn't worked at Tacoma Auto before. She knew that it probably didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, with all of the other illegal happenings now going on on her property, but when it came to Tacoma Auto she wanted to try to keep everything as on the straight and narrow as possible. As she was standing up she heard voices, low but discernable, coming from the garage.

"Relax, man. Nat is cool – she just wants to feel respected. This has been her baby for the last four years without much interference." She recognized Kozik's voice but wasn't sure which, or how many of his brothers he was talking to. She moved closer to the door, careful to stay out of view of the window that looked into the garage.

"She's not club. I don't need some fucking bitch telling me what to do just because she thinks she's hard and she's earned it. We could've done this. We could've built this shop to this, better even, Koz. God damn, why is everyone so fucking impressed and blinded by this bitch's pussy?" She knew that voice clear as day – had heard it less than an hour ago in his dorm. She was angry and was about three seconds away from storming into the garage before Koz's words stopped her in her tracks.

"No, Hap. Natalie's not just some pussy. Fuck, man. Natalie is family – to me, to Lee – the sooner you realize that the better off you're going to be."

She relaxed briefly before she heard Happy's rough voice tumble out again.

"You banging that bitch, that why you've got such a hard on for her?"

Kozik snorted. Not that Natalie wasn't beautiful, she absolutely was. He had FULL intentions of claiming that as his as soon as he was sent back here. She was young, smart, tough enough. Had a lot of old lady potential. But it was never like that for them, especially when shit started getting rough and she had gotten hurt.

"Nah, man. Natalie's been through some shit. Some rough shit Hap. If you knew the half of it, you'd ease up on her. If you had any idea what she toughed it through for this place, for the Sons, for us – you wouldn't question her for a second.

Natalie felt tears pricking her eyes. She knew that Kozik was trying to protect her but for him to hint at things that were supposed to be long dead and buried as far as any of them were concerned was painful. He had made a promise and she felt pretty confident that if Happy kept pushing, Kozik would give her up. And even if it was to make things better for her as far as Happy respecting her, that truth was a slippery slope for the Sons and one that was better left forgotten.

She stepped quickly into the shop, thankful that it had just been Kozik who was witness to Happy's opinions. Both men looked at her relatively startled. Despite her tough exterior and attempt at hiding her emotions, her eyes often betrayed her. And as she walked past Happy, refusing to make eye contact, she looked directly at Kozik. Her eyes were slightly wet and she was sure he knew she was upset. If you didn't look closely it could've been nothing, but Kozik knew better. He grabbed her upper arm as she walked by.

"Nat…" She shook her head pulling her arm from his grasp and took another step. Another arm closed on her upper arm and this time she was spun the opposite direction to face Happy. His grasp was warm and rough and entirely too firm. She attempted to jerk her arm away, but he had a good hold on her. His gaze burned into her.

"Hap….?" Kozik stepped closer, a warning look as he reached to unhook Happy's hand from Natalie's arm. She looked back at Happy intently, until she lost her nerve and her gaze faltered as a tear spilled down her cheeks. Happy's gaze never changed as he pulled her slightly closer before he released her, opening his hand and moving her away almost forcefully. She looked defeated – glancing briefly between the two men before gathering the papers left on her chair and heading back into her office. It wasn't until the deadbold slid in place and she ran a hand over the raised flesh on the left side of her abdomen that she allowed herself to truly break down and slide slowly down the back of the door.

Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks! -Moods424


	3. Chapter 3

Hi Everyone! Here's another chapter. I deleted half of the original chapter yesterday and rewrote it and am considerably more pleased with how it ended up. That being said...I am looking for a beta or someone that I can kick ideas around with when I get stuck. This story has started to take on a totally different direction that originally intended but I AM pleased with where its headed. So if you're interested in kicking ideas around or being a beta, please send me a PM or leave a review and I'll get in touch with you.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: Joey Vitelli, Happy's Girl, demonicseer and PiratesLife. It's extremely helpful to get feedback, both positive and negative.

Joey Vitelli: I'm glad that you think the story has potential and I am appreciative of your criticism as well. I know that in both of the last chapters I've received reviews that were critical of how I handle the interaction between Natalie and the MC. Each time I get one of these I very thoughtfully review what I post next to try to stay as true to form as possible. I will say that Natalie is naive to the MC world a bit and she will realize in the coming chapters that she doesn't get to have the last word in this world. But there are some of the guys who feel very indebted to her for what she did when they were in prison and are letting some of her bullheadedness slide longer than they would for someone else. Also keep in mind that Gemma has kind of been her role model and she's trying to present this strong front but without the history and earned respect that Gemma has to back it up. She doesn't always realize that she shouldn't be saying and doing some of the things that she is. But she'll get her comeuppance. I promise, just stick with me and believe it or not, much of this is intentional! As for asking them for "scheduled hours" that is part naivety on her part and part a (fair enough - sort of unrealistic) plot device because she needed a reason to call that meeting and piss Happy off again. :)

PiratesLife: Thanks again for the positive encouragement. I feel like you really get where I'm going with these characters and yes - I agree that Kozik is kind of a big softie too. He's kind of a goof in my mind and so that's how I've written him.

Enjoy and don't forget to let me know if someone is willing to beta. Thanks!

**Chapter 3**

Kozik had tried to say something to him as Happy had brushed past him and headed for his bike. Fucking bitch – getting under his skin. He didn't care what she'd been through, strutting around Tacoma Auto acting like she fucking owned the place, even if she technically did. He wasn't even completely sure why he'd grabbed her. Kozik had addressed her and she just kept walking like she hadn't heard him. Bitch needed to learn her place. Better yet, she needed to realize that she didn't have a place there – turn TA back over to her uncle and pound pavement.

Everyone around that place seemed to think that she made the goddamn sun shine, but Happy couldn't figure it out. She wasn't bad to look at…in that uppity bitch kind of way. All designer this and fucking fancy that. Girls like that didn't belong anywhere near an MC. He'd been riding for a while to nowhere particular when he knew he should probably head back the clubhouse. Happy knew that at the very least Kozik would have something to say about the exchange he'd had with the kid earlier. Worse yet, Happy knew that she had probably gone crying to her uncle about it and he was going to have to explain to the rest of his brothers why he grabbed the little princess.

Pulling into the lot and backing his bike into the line of other motorcycles, Happy took a minute to lean back in the seat, light up a smoke and assess the situation. The sun was starting to get lower in the sky – this time of year it wasn't uncommon to lose daylight in Tacoma around 5 or 5:30. He subconsciously settled his neck further into his sweatshirt to fight the chill of impending dusk and took a drag. Things seemed pretty quiet around the garage. The bay doors were all shut with the exception of one. He couldn't tell if anyone was in the office. Even practically empty, Tacoma Auto was too crowded for his liking. SAMCRO would head out tomorrow around midday and he was looking forward to the bare bones crew of 9 they would be left with…11 with the Prospects. They didn't have much to do for the next couple of weeks until the shipment came in. Then they'd back at it full time. In the meantime, Happy had little choice but to work in the garage. He had worked for Lee as a mechanic for years before going inside and it was one of the few things that he was truly good at. He'd always been a bit ADD, only able to focus on certain things for a limited period of time. He had dropped out of high school early, no one seeming to notice that he just couldn't manage to pay attention to the shit he was supposed to be learning.

After that it hadn't taken him long to get into trouble. He'd fallen in with a small crew of petty criminals and gotten pinched boosting a car. He tried to keep to himself when he was locked up, with no affiliation he didn't want to get caught up on the wrong side of some white is right/black power struggle for dominance. With his naturally tanned skin he looked just about as Hispanic as he could in a jail population that didn't work in his favor. He had managed to avoid any type of confrontation until a fight had broken out in the yard one day. He'd been doing pull-ups and only managed to be in the wrong place at the right time to see that the fight was a diversion and some smaller guy was being jumped on the side of the yard that he was on. Happy had seen his fair share of fights, some bloodier than others, but had never witnessed a defenseless jumping. He pulled the main aggressor off of the guy – maybe 19 or early 20s – not much older than Happy, before he realized what he was doing and hadn't stopped hitting him until he was pulled off what seemed like minutes later. He had done some extra time but he'd also gained an ally. He called himself Chaser, he was SOA NOMAD and saw something in Happy, something in the rage that Happy displayed that day in the yard. So when he'd been released, Happy had been accepted to Prospect quickly with Chaser's recommendation.

After riding NOMAD for a while, he had found a place in Tacoma. They needed an enforcer and he needed the stability to balance out his wild mind. Happy loved the open road but he loved finally having a place to belong. Having a family for the first time that he knew he could count on. His mother, the only other family he had to speak of had moved to California about a year earlier to be closer to a neurological research facility that hoped to aid her in her struggle with MS. Happy didn't know much about the disease himself, but he knew that every time his mother came to visit him she looked more and more worn down, tired and fragile. The last time she had visited he'd offered to transfer to Charming, or go NOMAD again so that he could spend more time with her but she'd refused. Now he wasn't so sure that Charming wasn't the best damn idea he'd ever had. But he knew that Clay needed him here for the same reason that he'd come in the first place – to keep the peace, enforce the rules. Kozik was one hell of a Sergeant at Arms, but sometimes there was a need for that rage that Happy had shown in the yard when he'd met Chaser. Sometimes a job took a little extra darkness and that was where Happy was a necessity.

The sun had almost set completely by the time that Happy stood from his bike and headed towards the clubhouse. Chancing another look at the garage without the cover of his sunglasses, he still couldn't see any movement.

"What's up, bro?" Kozik's voice startled Happy. He'd been so focused on the garage that he hadn't noticed Kozik watching him from the picnic table to the left of the clubhouse entrance.

Happy sat next to Kozik on the bench, legs stretched out in front of him and without making eye contact, gave him a non-committal shrug. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Kozik spoke again.

"You know you can't be doin' that shit with her, she's not a sweet butt and if Lee or some of the others found out – " Kozik trailed off not finishing the sentence. He knew the last thing Hap needed was a lecture, but he did want to impart the semi-seriousness of avoiding issues with Natalie.

"Yeah," Happy replied simply. Kozik nodded once accepting that Happy had heard him and saying anything else about the subject could result in pissing him off further.

The party had become so wild that it almost felt like an extension of the welcome home party the night before. After his brief chat with Kozik, Happy had found his way to his dorm and crashed for a while, only waking when the noise reached a high enough level in the clubhouse to reach his dorm.

He'd started off avoiding Lee and some of the Tacoma guys that seemed to be more protective of the girl – JD, Autie, even Lorca who didn't have any particular affinity for her other than recognizing that she was Lee's niece. But after a few shots of whiskey he'd relaxed and realized that not only did no one seem to be concerned about his behavior – no one seemed to know a damn thing about the exchange from earlier, save for Koz. Kozik had been watching Happy closely and he knew it. Waiting to see if he "behaved" himself tonight. Happy could feel Kozik's gaze from the couch and threw up his middle finger before heading outside for a little space. Happy loved a good party, but sometimes with too much going on in the clubhouse he needed to take a breather and clear his head.

He leaned against the fence about 40 feet from the clubhouse entrance and took a long swig of his beer before fishing in his pocket for his lighter. Since returning from his ride earlier, he hadn't seen the girl. She hadn't been at the party, unless he'd still been sleeping when she left and from the looks of her apartment above the garage, she was either not there or sulking in the dark. That would fucking figure if she was. Little princess thinks she's hard, thinks she deserves respect and can't handle a few harsh words. It was barely 10:00 pm so Happy had to figure that she was probably out somewhere, no way she was sleeping so early. He shook his head quickly before scuffing out his cigarette with his shoe. Why the fuck was he even thinking about this irritating bitch. He had better things to do than concern himself with what she was up to. He pushed off of his shadowed spot on the fence to head back inside when headlights temporarily bathed the parking lot in light.

Happy squinted, his vision straining to adjust to the sudden change in brightness. It was a truck, dark blue, Ford F-150, maybe a couple of years old. He heard the muffled exchange of words before he saw her. The girl dropped from the passenger side and retreated quickly towards the building. She was dressed up, wearing a black dress and tall black heels, clutching what looked like a small leather bag in her hands. The driver of the truck called out to her, definitely a man. She stopped and turned, shaking her head vehemently before moving towards her apartment swiftly. Once she'd disappeared into the shadows cast by the garage to go into her apartment, Happy shifted his attention to the truck. The driver was definitely male, maybe 30 with brown hair. Happy didn't recognize him, but his interest was peaked. Just what was the little princess up to?

Tonight had not gone quite how Natalie had planned. She had a dinner date with Deputy Brian Lochner of the Tacoma Police Department for the expressed purpose of making it clear to him that her intentions weren't romantic. Years earlier, after the Tacoma Kings had trashed the place she'd called the police department if only for the report she would need to file an insurance claim. The Chief, Harold Hillenbrand had responded, bringing Deputy Lochner with him to take the report. Chief Hillenbrand, Harry as he insisted Natalie call him, had been friendly enough with her uncle, understanding that there were worse things for Tacoma than the Sons of Anarchy. Deputy Lochner was much more of a straight shooter and had been attempting to dissuade Natalie from associating with the Sons upon their release, despite knowing that it was the reason that she had reopened Tacoma Auto to begin with.

He had started out as a somewhat welcome presence in those initial days after the break-in. His occasional visits made Natalie feel some level of comfort but it didn't take long before he turned into a general annoyance, dropping by to flirt with her – despite Kozik's heavy handed suggestions that he not. Eventually she had relented to going out with him on a strictly platonic basis and while it had been enjoyable enough, there was absolutely no chemistry between them. Deputy Lochner, as she insisted on calling him, even when they were out – her feeble attempt at dissuading the familiarity between them, seemed to think that he could "save" her from the corruption that SOA promoted. Thought that he could wear her down enough that she would some day consent to waiting at home with 2.5 children and dinner on the table. Not only was that not the life that Natalie had ever wanted for herself, she was past the point of enjoying Deputy Lochner's company even for what it was, casual dinner and conversation.

She had tried to explain that to him tonight, hoping that he would finally grasp her disinterest. She knew that she had kind of led him on going to dinner once in a while and being friendly, but she had been lonely and sometimes conversation with Kozik or the Prospects didn't provide all of the companionship that she needed. But she meant it this time. No more. And he seemed like he was understanding, until she's gotten out of his truck only to have him call her back and ask if he could see her again. He even had the audacity to ask if she wanted him to come in. Because THAT would have gone over well. She would've had a bullet between her eyes before she could blink. Kozik, Autie, Jimmy and Hutch knew that she and the deputy were friendly, but she could only imagine with the others would thing. She was fraternizing with the enemy, one of them at least. Her Uncle Lee and Clay would lose it. And Happy? He would kill her right there in front of all of them, probably with his bare, rough hands. She snorted at that last thought, thinking briefly of the exchange they had had in the garage earlier. She realized she would need to hold her tongue with that one a little bit, see if cooling it would allow him to grow to tolerate her enough that he could work for her. From what Autie had said he was a hell of a mechanic.

Natalie flipped on the light to her apartment once she reached the landing at the top of the stairs. She took of her shoes quickly, flexing her feet once the 4 inch Badgley Mischka black pumps had hit the floor. She looked around, debating between going back downstairs to join the party for a bit or putting on her pajamas, watching a little mindless TV and calling it a night. She fiddled with the ribbon of her black wrap dress, debating for a minute before deciding to leave it on and reaching for her shoes, because after a day like today, she needed a drink.

As her apartment darkened again, she didn't notice the man that had been watching her from the parking lot move along the length of the fence and head inside.

The catcalls started almost instantly as Natalie entered the clubhouse. She was certainly overdressed and more than a couple of the scantily clad women draped around the clubhouse looked at her distastefully.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" Kozik asked setting his beer down to spin her around. He leaned close to her ear before whispering, "another date with deputy dickbag?"

She rolled her eyes at Kozik and motioned for Hutch to grab her a beer. Taking it, she turned, leaned on the bar and took a long swig – her eyes scanning the room. Her uncle and Lorca were playing pool, thank god, she didn't need to see someone closer to her age than his perched in Uncle Lee's lap – or worse. As conversation continued to buzz around her she stepped from the bar and sidled up next to Gemma at a high top table. She was talking animatedly to Jax about something as Clay looked on adoringly.

"Well, look at you, little lady!" Jax smiled as he saw her approaching. She did a mock courtesy.

"What, didn't I tell you to wear your best formal wear?" she joked.

"Darlin, can't you see that I am?" Clay joked motioning to his leather vest.

Happy watched with curiosity – a thin brunette perched in his lap – as the girl made her way from the bar to Jax and Clay. It was hard not to notice her in the smoke filled room where everyone looked a little bit hazy she looked sharp and bright, clean even. He took a moment to appreciate the feminine definition of her legs and her rounded ass in that little black dress. One pull of that ribbon…he shook his head to clear those thoughts before they really had time to infiltrate his head. He looked at her again and noticed a faint, but present bruise on her upper arm. Although it wasn't defined enough to look like anything in particular, he knew he'd marked her earlier when he had grabbed her. He was bothered by how much he liked that thought.

The brunette in his lap shifted and leaned in as though she was going to kiss him – drawing his attention back to her. He didn't kiss bitches. And on the off chance that he did, it certainly wasn't going to be in front of his brothers. He shoved the girl from his lap roughly, wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her from falling on the floor and then led her down the hallway to his dorm. He was going to fuck that little blonde in her black dress out of his mind one way or another.

Not immune to knowing when someone was watching her, Natalie could feel Happy's gaze on her. After their exchange earlier, she had retreated to the safety of her office for a mini melt down. Kozik had banged on the door a few times and when she'd finally regained control of herself she assured him, through the heavy door, that she was fine and he could piss off. She chalked the emotion up to a long couple of days planning for the boys to return and then finally seeing her uncle again after the long journey that she'd had to get to that moment. The confrontation between her and Kozik and then Happy had merely been the unexpected straw that broke the camel's back. So when Deputy Lochner had called, she had all but jumped at the chance to look at someone not wrapped in leather for a couple of hours and she knew it was the perfect opportunity to explain to him that while she appreciated his company, they would never amount to anything – before the rest of the Sons found out and she had a bigger problem on her hands.

Finding the courage to look at Happy and prove that her falter earlier was just that, and that he hadn't broken her, she was disappointed to see his retreating form heading towards the dorms, crow eater in tow. The girl was pretty, she supposed. She was wearing a jean skirt too shirt for someone her age (or anyone older than 6 in her opinion) and far too much makeup. But if that was Happy's type, then who was she to think any different. She turned back to the table and laughed at something that Clay had said, though she wasn't sure what. And somewhere in the back of her mind she thought back to the way Happy held her too roughly earlier in the garage and wondered if he was manhandling the brunette the same way.

When Happy emerged from his dorm room sometime later he was pleasantly surprised at the smaller crowd that dotted the various chairs and couches. No doubt several of his brothers had followed his lead and were elsewhere in the clubhouse taking care of business. He grabbed a beer from the Prospect and was just about to pop the top off before a shrill laugh caught his attention and he found his gaze trained on the girl across the room. He expected her to be long gone – turn into a pumpkin at midnight or some shit. Through the 20 or 30 bodies still in the room he spotted her leaning against the pool table, ass planted on the edge of the table with Juice, the SAMCRO intel officer, trying to pull a pool cue out of her hands. He had one hand wrapped around the wooden stick and the other on her side under her arm to prevent her from falling off the table. From where he stood, Happy could clearly tell that she was drunk. In Happy's mind there was really only way for this bitch to be more aggravating than she already was, and this was it.

She broke free of Juice's grasp and scampered further around the table to line up a shot. She was still wearing those ridiculous shoes that combined with the alcohol she had consumed were certain to be death traps. Happy smirked a little at the thought of her with a broken ankle, unable to descend the stairs from her apartment to bark orders in the garage.

"Princess!" Tig called to her from the bar just as she leaned forward, striking the cue ball firmly and turning away before the 8 ball dropped into the corner pocket. Without looking back she patted Juice on the shoulder and walked towards the bar to meet Tig. He held up a bottle of Jameson and slid a shot glass closer to her.

"This a good idea?" Happy asked as Kozik pulled up the stool next to him.

Kozik shrugged. "You worried about Nat all of a sudden, Killer?" Happy fixed his steeled gaze on Kozik. He stared at him for a minute before replying.

"Nope. Maybe this'll take her down a few pegs." Kozik snorted in response, taking a long pull off his beer.

"She pukes in here – she's cleaning it up. I don't care how fucking blitzed she is."

Kozik laughed at Happy's comment for a minute, before he watched Natalie turn quickly and head for the door.

"Well, at least she's not puking in here," he said before he moved to follow her outside, an amused Happy on his heels.

The room was spinning and Natalie knew that the last howevermany shots had been a bad idea. She wasn't a huge drinker, though she enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine or a few beers periodically. But it had felt good to let loose a little bit tonight. She could already tell with the little bit of regret that was creeping in that if she didn't get sick before she went to bed she was going to be in rough shape tomorrow. She had been spun and twirled all around the clubhouse, drinks handed to her right and left. Really, she should've changed after dinner and opted for a more low key ensemble that would've afforded her less attention.

She slammed the shot glass down on the bar, face down this time in hopes that Tig wouldn't refill it a third time. Suddenly more than regret was creeping up on her and she desperately needed to get out of the hot, smoke filled room. Smiling at Tig, who she was sure could tell that she was wasted, she walked as quickly as her shoes would let her to the door and out into the night. There were a few people milling about the barrels, wood still smoldering in the bottom of a few - but mostly everyone was inside or had already taken off. She took a couple of deep breaths of the cool air and felt her stomach settle slightly. Cold sweat beaded at her hairline and on her neck and sent a chill through her body. She wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to warm up before realizing that the neckline of her "classy" black dress had slipped considerably - God only knows how much earlier in the evening - giving everyone a view of the top of her bra.

"Just as well," she thought to herself. She had a nice figure, curves where she should, but with all of the voluptuous women who had been in the clubhouse tonight she would've been surprised if anyone even noticed. Though it would explain why Juice seemed to be a bit overeager to touch her every chance he got. She was beyond ready to go up to her apartment and head to bed when she realized that she had left her purse near the pool table.

"Fuck," she cursed under her breath, turning too quickly towards the clubhouse. She reached the picnic table near the clubhouse entrance and sat heavily on one of the benches, kicking off her shoes. She fought back the unsettling feeling creeping up her chest and placed her head in her hands. She needed to go in and get her purse as quickly as possible or she was going to throw up in the parking lot.

"This might just be a new low," she said aloud, preparing to get up.

"What exactly is that?" she looked up, her watery eyes locking with Kozik's briefly before noticing his partner in crime.

"Nevermind, this is lower," she stated quietly, her voice husky from inhaling smoke and booze all night. "I'm done Koz."

He chuckled lowly, "I would say so."

"Tomorrow is going to be fucking terrible," she mumbled.

"Yes, ma'am," Kozik agreed.

"My purse is inside. I need to go get it. If I'm going to puke, I want to do it in my own toilet, that I clean thoroughly and regularly," she quipped. Kozik snorted back a laugh. Even drunk Natalie was a smart ass.

"I'll find your shit, where did you leave it?" Kozik asked.

"I think by the pool table?" It was more of a question than an answer but Kozik nodded once then turned to Happy.

"Hap, stay with her for a just a second." It wasn't a question and Happy looked murderous. He was not going to babysit some bitch – if she couldn't hang that was her own problem. He opened his mouth to protest before Kozik added in a sing-song voice, "play nice," and disappeared inside.

He chanced a look at the girl, but she wasn't looking at him. Either she was still pissed at him for earlier or she was on the verge of blacking out. Her face was buried in her palms and her slightly tangled hair fanned over her arms. She swayed dangerously where she sat and Happy surged forward on instinct grabbing her before she face planted on the cement. Where the fuck was Kozik? Natalie lifted her head slightly to look at Happy, her gaze showing surprise when she registered that he was holding onto her. Her eyes drooped slightly before her body went slack and Happy lifted her to set her on the top of the table. She was out cold and as tempted as he was to leave her here to figure out what was taking Kozik so long he knew with visiting charter members and random hang arounds lurking it wasn't a good idea to leave a heavily intoxicated girl alone – even if it was this girl.

He reached in his pocket and pulled out his pack of Marlboro Reds, sliding one out of the nearly empty pack before sparking it and taking a long drag. Looking back towards the picnic table he took a look at the girl. Her long legs were almost completely exposed, the bottom of her dress having ridden up as he put her on the table. She didn't look nearly as pretentious as normal, probably because her God damn mouth was shut and her face was slack, preventing her from looking all judgmental, Happy mused. He had a great view down her dress at her tits. They were all right, a nice round handful, he supposed. He'd seen nicer. Happy took another long drag, annoyance just about causing him to rethink his "leave her and find Koz" strategy when the door swung open and Kozik stood, clutching a small leather bag in his hand. He looked between Happy coolly smoking his cigarette and the passed out girl on the picnic table.

"What the hell happened out here?"

"Bitch got mouthy, I choked her out," Happy said simply. Kozik studied his face seriously and Happy raised his eyebrows slightly, begging Kozik to verbalize what he was thinking and ask if he really had. "She passed the fuck out. Nearly met the concrete face first. I put her on the table."

"So chivalrous." Kozik scoffed, rolling his eyes. Natalie was placed haphazardly on the table and it wouldn't have surprised him if Happy had just kind of thrown her up there. He picked up her shoes and presented them to Happy with her bag. "Can you grab this shit, find her keys in here and follow me up to her place?"

"I don't carry chick shit," Happy replied, stubbing out his cigarette much closer to Natalie's face than Kozik would've preferred. "And I sure as hell don't dig around in chick shit."

"Well, I can't do both. So your choice, carry chick shit or the chick?"

Happy seemed to mull these options over briefly before roughly scooping Natalie off the table. She looked almost dead, her pale skin has a slight glow to it from the thin layer of sweat accumulating on her forehead and her lips were slightly open. Happy didn't try to hold her delicately at all, instead he shifted her weight over his shoulder like she was a sack of potatoes and followed Kozik towards the door he'd seen her come in and out of a few times.

She wasn't heavy and getting her up the staircase was only made moderately difficult by the fact that it was both narrow and steep. Once they reached the top landing, Kozik flipped on the lights and Happy immediately looked for somewhere that he could put her down. The apartment was bigger than he'd thought it would be. It was studio style, with the only separation from the main room being a makeshift wall that blocked off the bedroom and a door that he guessed led to a bathroom.

"Where am I putting her?" he asked Kozik shortly.

"I don't know, man. What do you think? Bedroom or bathroom?"

"I don't care." Happy was losing patience. He should've stayed in his bed when he kicked the sweet butt out around midnight. Koz was all nice and compassionate and shit, not Happy. He was completely uncomfortable holding the girl and needed to put her down as soon as possible.

"Bed I guess," Kozik answered his own question. Happy put her on the bed as gently as he could, given his current level of annoyance, and stepped back as if to leave. "Hap, can you grab the trashcan from the bathroom and a bottle of water from the fridge?" Happy shot an aggravated look at Kozik. "Dude, I know. Just please do it and I won't ask you anything else, okay?"

Happy was pissed, but relented – the sooner this shit was done the sooner him and Kozik could go back to the clubhouse. He grabbed the trashcan first, setting it forcefully near Kozik's feet before he headed towards the refrigerator. He paused when he reentered her bedroom area as he watched Kozik throw the black fabric that had been wrapped around her on the floor. Kozik turned towards a dresser rummaging around for a minute causing Happy to wonder again just how familiar he was with the girl. Kozik pulled out a tshirt and moved toward the bed, propping Natalie's motionless body in a sitting position so he could pull it over her head. Happy stood back for a moment until a flash of black contrasting against pale skin caught his eye. Written on her left side in dainty cursive across her ribs was:

_May the angels protect you_

_Trouble neglect you_

_And heaven accept you_

_When its time to go home._

He looked up and met Kozik's gaze. Kozik looked upset before taking in a deep breath and saying "whatever you think you just saw, unsee. It will drag up a whole bunch of shit, brother."

Happy was confused by his statement and expression but as soon as he moved a step closer to examine the intricate loops of ink he realized what Kozik had been talking about. Semi-hidden amongst the lines of text were 5 pale pink scars, equal in shape and size. Happy reached out subconsciously, preparing to run his fingers along the raised flesh when Kozik pulled the t-shirt down over the girl almost forcefully– snapping him out of his reverie.

**So, what did you think? Leave a review and let me know! Thanks! -Moods424**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey Guys, sorry for the delay! I had the HARDEST time starting this chapter and wrote and deleted so many pieces at the beginning and then the rest of it wrote itself. I have the rest of the story mapped out and am incredibly pleased. I think you will be too. This doesn't cover ALL of the background of Natalie's secret - so if something is missing it's probably on purpose - but it is the meat and potatoes of it. Please review and let me know what you think!**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter:** **raut1903, Joey Vitelli, PiratesLife, Happy's Girl, Avanne and AngieInWonderland. You guys are fantastic and really make me think about what I'm writing. You'll never understand how good the validation of knowing someone else appreciates something you wrote! So, without further fanfare, here it is. I hope you like it! -Ashley**

Chapter 4

She had only come down from her apartment once on Sunday – to see Clay and Gemma and the rest of the mother charter off. Her hair was down and straightened indicating that she'd showered and aside from the oversized designer sunglasses perched on her nose and slightly sluggish movements, there was no suggestion that she was feeling the night before. But Happy knew that she had to be. He watched from the picnic table as she hugged Gemma tightly, placed a kiss on Clay's cheek and said her goodbyes to the various other members. Natalie gave a delicate wave of her hand as the last of them left the lot, the van carrying Gemma and the Prospect behind them before turning toward her apartment again. She gave a slight nod to Kozik before retreating to the comfort of her apartment for the remainder of the day.

Happy had waited for her to come back down, spending much of the afternoon dicking around with his bike in the garage waiting to catch a glimpse of her. He wasn't sure for what exactly. He just wanted to look at her – as if the events of the night before would shed some new light on exactly who she was.

* * *

><p>Happy tried all week to get Kozik alone to no avail. He was always in the clubhouse, flanked by brothers or out riding - Happy wasn't sure where he kept running off to. The first few days he assumed that it was a coincidence – they all had different assignments, worked varying hours that even when they were all staying at the clubhouse it wasn't uncommon to go a day or two without contact. But Kozik and Happy were usually a constant – sharing a few beers and a smoke at the end of the day. By Wednesday, Happy realized that Kozik was intentionally keeping his distance.<p>

"Smart fucker," he thought to himself. He knew exactly why Kozik was giving him the slip – for the same reason that Happy was trying to get him alone. Happy wanted to talk about what had happened on Saturday night. The words tattooed on her creamy flesh were burned into his mind.

_May the angels protect you_

_Trouble neglect you_

_And heaven accept you_

_When its time to go home._

They were a little too flowery for his taste but they suited the girl perfectly. And the expanse of pale skin that had stretched from the top of her black panties to her bra…Happy felt himself stir slightly at the thought. Hell, he'd never denied that the bitch was hot. He had found himself thinking about that tattoo – and what it attempted to hide – all week. It was a curious imperfection. She didn't seem like the type for ink, and yet there it was. Concealing a dark past and a darker secret, judging by Kozik's reaction and the way he had been avoiding his closest brother all week. Happy's fascination with the raised flesh had bordered on obsession. He had inflicted and earned enough scars in his day to know that they were likely stab wounds. Their width indicated a medium sized blade. He hadn't been close enough to determine if the knife has been serrated or not and his fingers practically ached at the idea of running down her side to find out. It wasn't sexual, it was a primal, violent, need to touch the healed wounds to feel the knotted flesh under his rough hands. He shook the thoughts out of his head and picked the impact wrench off the workbench next to him.

He had seen her plenty this week. They'd managed to work without major incident though she didn't speak to him or many of the other guys directly – instead letting Autie delegate tasks to them as needed. For all of the big talk the bitch had been about being the boss, she seemed perfectly content to keep to herself. Happy guessed that someone had said something to her about keeping her distance for a while.

"Girl would probably run for the fucking hills if she knew what I'd seen," Happy mused as he tightened the lug nuts on the '93 Acura Integra he had just finished working on. Wiping his hands on a red shop rag, he noticed Kozik head towards his bike. He popped open the latch on one of his saddlebags and dropped in what looked like a bank bag, probably the garage deposit, which Kozik routinely did on nights when they had a late pickup and the girl needed to wait in the office.

"Acura's done." Natalie jumped as the low, rumbling voice invaded the silence. She didn't need to look up to see who it was. Making eye contact briefly, she settled on the singular key in his outstretched hand. His hands were rough, the oil and grease staining them clung to the peaks and grooves of calluses from a life filled with hard work and riding. She reached forward and plucked the key out of his hand.

"Thanks."

"You got anything else today?" He would normally be asking Autie this – he figured they both probably preferred it that way, but Autie had left for a doctors appointment over an hour ago and wasn't back.

Natalie shuffled through a stack of papers and then flipped open the metal box behind her that held a series of keys.

"No, it doesn't look like it. The owner of the Taurus called – she's coming in tomorrow, so if you can pull it in and put it on the lift I would really appreciate it." Natalie was using her best professional, non-patronizing voice. Autie had sat her down first thing Monday morning, when her second day hangover headache still pulsed in her ears and suggested that perhaps they would ease into her running the garage. While she was usually the one to bark orders and pitch keys across the bays to waiting mechanics, Autie felt that he was more…respected, at least for now, to be doling out any tasks to the guys. It might have been the headache but she begrudgingly agreed. She did want to get along with everyone and aside from a few questioning looks from a couple of the guys, and Happy's demeanor towards her in general, she was more or less succeeding.

"Sure," he answered, reaching over her and taking the keys off of the hook and heading back into the garage.

Natalie watched him go with curiosity. Sure, she had been walking on eggshells with him all week, but she really hadn't expected him to do the same. Maybe Kozik had sat him down and told him to play nice. She had started every morning expecting him to snap at her and her stubborn pride to make it infinitely worse by overstepping her boundaries, but the verbal lashing from Happy never came. As the week wound down she was equal parts at ease around him and on edge – knowing that when it did come, it was going to be brutal and undo all of the progress they had made during the week.

The bay doors began to close snapping her from her thoughts and she looked up in time to see Happy give her an almost imperceptible nod before slipping on his cut and heading towards his bike. While she couldn't tell the difference between everyone's bikes there were a few that were louder than others and one of those was Happy's.

She smiled a bit when she heard the familiar roar of straight pipes as he pulled off the lot.

"Fuck," Kozik ran a hand down his face as he exited the bank and saw Happy leaning, calmly against his bike, legs crossed at the ankle. He knew this moment was coming eventually – but he'd done his best to prolong it.

"Hap."

"Koz." Happy responded stoically waiting for Kozik to make the first move. The two stared each other down before Kozik looked away and then back at Happy quickly, desperation showing clearly on his face.

"I can't." He shook his head vehemently, straddling his bike and reaching for the handlebars, though he made no move to start it.

"Can't, what?" Happy responded slowly, cocking an eyebrow.

"Jesus Christ, Hap. Don't be a dick about it. We both know why you're here. It's not my story to tell. It's not club business. It's Natalie's shit." Kozik voice was firm but there was the slightest edge of pleading.

Happy contemplated this for a minute. He knew that one wrong comment could cause Kozik to panic or get pissed and shut him out completely. He had already gotten Kozik to acknowledge that there was a story to tell, now he just needed to peel back the layers, like an onion.

"Didn't seem like nothing in church, brother. Autie staring you down across the table."

Kozik tensed visibly, looking Happy dead in the eye. He was pissed, but not the kind where he was likely to tell Happy to fuck off – more the kind where he knew he'd been caught out and that if Happy couldn't get answers from him, he had no problem going through the old man. "Jesus Christ, nothing gets by you, does it."

Happy shrugged, "part of the job I guess". Kozik snorted in response. He looked straight ahead now as an internal battle raged. His knuckles were white from gripping his bars, his jaw was clenched and he nodded ever so slightly as though he knew he needed to keep his mouth shut but that he'd reached an impasse. Truthfully, he'd known that this moment might come at some point, he just hadn't expected it so soon after everyone had been released.

"It's not club business, brother," Kozik tried again, feebly. Happy and Kozik both knew at this point that he'd lost – that it was only a matter of chess moves before Kozik would spill the truth to Happy, gruesome details and all and break one of the only promises that he'd ever kept in his life.

"Girl like that doesn't end up with stab wounds all over her and have it not be club business – and I mean that both ways. All haughty and proper and shit – she wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time and you know that I might not be the smartest person in the world, but I ain't stupid, brother. That happened because of who she is, who she is to the Sons. And that makes it club business."

Kozik looked up and nodded resolutely. The bank doors open and closed before them as the bank employees headed home for the day. The sun was starting to dip low in the sky and more than one person eyed the bikers warily as they headed to their cars. Two outlaw bikers in a bank parking lot, one just paroled, didn't really instill a sense of comfort.

"Alright, Hap. But not here. And this shit doesn't go past us. I mean it. This isn't club business. Not now anyway. We decide to bring this to the table, I talk to Natalie first, got it?" Happy nodded once and fired up his bike.

"Lead the way brother."

* * *

><p>Forty minutes later found them sitting at a table tucked away in a corner of the Rusty Spur, a rundown hole in the wall on the outskirts or Tumwater. Normally Sons didn't go this far outside Tacoma unless it was for official club business and Kozik was counting on being able to be just a couple of nameless faces tonight.<p>

"First of all you need to know a few things about Natalie. I know you don't like her," Kozik paused hoping that Happy might say something, anything to the contrary that would make him feel less like he was betraying Natalie. Happy made no movement and Kozik continued. "But she really is good for the club, really knows her place – even though it doesn't always seem like it. Some of the shit she's been through…"

He stopped for a moment, taking a long pull from his jack and coke before setting the glass back down on the table heavily. His face looked worn – Happy noticed for the first time since they were released. There was always something boyish about Kozik, but now damn near 40, his age and his almost singlehanded support of a club chapter, official or not, had clearly taken its toll on him. His face was lined heavily around the eyes and Happy guessed they were made more prominent by the pained expressions Kozik kept making as he struggled with what to say next.

"You were around when Nat came to Lee. Little thing – obnoxious maybe, but she usually kept to herself. She was smart, really fucking smart. When you guys went away Lee's ex took her to keep her from going into the system. She went to some private schools out east, got a degree in business or something. She doesn't talk much about those years, and when she does…it's all about a means to an end, getting back to Washington. Imagine my surprise when I get a call from Clay telling me to get my ass back to Tacoma because Natalie had been attacked at TA – I didn't know what the hell to think. When I rolled up Autie was there, and I don't know if I still expected her to be a kid or what, but she wasn't and she walked out of that office, hand on her hip and looked straight at me, fear in her god damned eyes but she stood there and she looked so, I don't know man, so fucking tough, even though I knew she wasn't. She wasn't made like us, like Gemma or any other woman I've ever run into in this life. But she's not delicate either."

Happy was almost giddy at this point, like an overeager child on Christmas morning trying to contain his excitement at unraveling the mystery. Yet on the surface, he looked calm and serene. Kozik continued.

"They had trashed the clubhouse. Broken damn near everything. Bullet holes, broken glass…Natalie doesn't talk much about that either. She was in the office when it started around 4 in the morning. Lucky too, I guess. At that point she was living in the clubhouse, by herself."

Happy's eyebrows rose noticeably as his face pulled, disbelief evident. Maybe the little bitch did have more balls than he gave her credit for. The rail yard and warehouses near Tacoma Auto were hauntingly abandoned before they had gone to prison. Happy had always liked the grittiness of it. But imagining a woman there after the garage had been shut down and overgrown made him uncomfortable. Not to mention a girl that was more Tiffanys than Tacoma.

"She locked herself in the bathroom next to her office. Like I said, she's never said much about it. I don't know if they knew that she was there, but I have to believe that they did. She said they jostled the door to the office a bit before breaking the glass out and then she didn't hear anything else. She called the cops sometime early afternoon – I think she stayed locked in there until then, afraid that they were still there or would come back. But she filed the police report, and then she called SAMCRO, Clay called me and I came back to the little blonde thing nailing windows shut and cleaning up the debris as determined as ever. Tacoma's been home since. That was about four years ago."

Happy nodded. "I remember you visiting Lee, telling him she was back. He thought it was the second coming but I thought that the bitch would bail long before we ever saw the light of day."

"To be honest, I think everyone did. Even when Clay sent me up…I think he thought it would be temporary. But Autie and Gemma helped her figure out the shop and in no time she was running it, better than we ever did." Kozik reached for his drink, swilling the ice around in the liquid before downing the rest of the glass and signaling the waitress that he was ready for another. Happy had barely touched his beer and took a long sip.

"Bitch is smart," he stated. Kozik looked at him for a moment, probably surprised that he'd said something positive about Natalie, before he nodded in agreement. "So, how did it happen? I'm assuming it was the Kings?"

Kozik sighed heavily. The things that he'd already told Happy were more or less common knowledge save for a few details. He was about to betray her trust in a big way and he only hoped when he had to bring this to the table, and he told her…she would understand why he had to. What happened to her had never sat well with him, partially because it was brought on by the club and partially because he'd been so close and unable to stop it.

"Yeah," he admitted heavily, "it was the Kings. It was during the week…a Tuesday I think. Anyway, in those early days the clubhouse was pretty quiet. I was living there and Autie stayed most nights during the week. Natalie had moved above the garage. Juice had come up for a while and rigged the place all kinds of secure. Cameras around the lot, the clubhouse, her place…everywhere. I don't know if we just felt like no one could get to us or what, but we got sloppy…I got sloppy, Hap."

Kozik was emotional and Happy couldn't recall a time when he'd ever seen the other man respond that way to anything. He was angry and frustrated, his eyes even looked a little watery. The girl obviously meant a lot to him and he clearly felt responsible for what had happened to her.

"What do you mean?"

Kozik raked a hand through his hair. He didn't look back at Happy for a while, instead choosing to stare at the worn table as he talked. "She was tired – we'd had a busy day and she was calling it early. I was watching TV, some basketball game I didn't even care about. Usually I went out with her, watched her walk to her place and had a smoke. But I didn't. It wasn't the first time she went to her place without me watching, but it didn't happen too often. I went out a few hours later and….fuck man…" he paused for a minute before looking Happy dead in the eyes and continuing. "I saw her, God, I saw her just laying there. Halfway around the corner to her door, in plain site in the lot. There was so much fucking blood."

Kozik buried his face in his hands. His shoulders were tensed and for the first time since Kozik began talking, Happy realized that his own body was incredibly tense too. He flexed and unclenched his fists a few times. Happy knew that although he might not like the girl, whether he liked it or not, she was club, and she was Lee's family and that meant something.

"Stabbed?"

Kozik nodded returning his gaze to Happy. The anger was still there but Kozik looked so sad. So…guilty.

"5 Times. By the time we got to Tacoma General she had nearly bled out. Took multiple transfusions by the time they had her stabilized. Collapsed lung, a couple of broken ribs from the force…the tip of the knife had broken off in her stomach and they nearly lost her during the surgery to remove it. Autie and I, we didn't….," he swallowed hard. "We didn't think she was going to make it. And then when she did there was so much risk of infection, of problems healing, especially because of the wound in her stomach – the risk of sepsis. But she pulled through, man. You know what the first damn thing she said was in recovery? She had just been stabbed and nearly died. And she looked me dead in the eyes, all fucking doped up and said "this isn't club shit, Koz. Charming, Uncle Lee…no one can know". Jesus Christ it was like I was talking to you. All strategy and pride."

Happy felt proud of the girl. Most bitches wouldn't have had the fight to survive that. Even more would've used it as a reason to bail, to run, to have a pity party for the rest of their God damned lives about how they had suffered and now had jurisdiction to be an unrighteous bitch. It took a special kind of crazy and tough to endure what Kozik was describing and come out on the other end clear headed enough to know what kind of shit it would've caused the club if it had become public knowledge that she'd been attacked. They would've made her close the garage, gone to war with the Kings and with all of the other shit that had been going on with the Sons over the last few years it would've spread them way too thin, opening them up for attack.

"They told her that she was in King territory and that the Sons would never take Tacoma back. Told her to close the garage or the next time they came back she wouldn't be able to pass on a message."

"Cops?" Happy asked simply. If she'd gone to Tacoma General with wounds that severe there was no way it wasn't on record.

"Yeah, they came…took a report. Looked at the surveillance. There was nothing. They'd cut through the chain link behind the clubhouse. Waited for her between the buildings. Cops were positive it was the Kings, after the place had been broken into a few months earlier. But again, Nat is smart. She talked to them before I even had a chance to talk to her and told them it was one guy, didn't seem to have any affiliation, that he was trying to rob her. I don't know how much they believed her, but without her saying otherwise, the suspicion against the Kings could never be anything more than that."

Happy nodded along as Kozik talked. He was fucking impressed. He'd been harboring anger and resentment against the pretty little thing, thinking she didn't know her place and she seemed to know it more than some of the most seasoned old ladies that he'd come across. She had certainly spoken out of turn to him, but for the first time he was starting to understand the resolve in which she had declared herself the boss and stood her ground, even if she was scared as hell on the inside. She had been burned by fire and come out the other side a survivor.

"There's this deputy, real asshole, has a thing for her I think. Used to show up all of the time, trying to protect Natalie and shit. I think it made her feel safer at first, but then when we got a few more guys working at TA and they started staying on the lot she felt more comfortable and he started to be obnoxious. Since everyone is back and we're officially a charter again she's been working hard to get rid of him. For the last few months or so I think…but he doesn't seem to be getting the message."

Happy's jaw clenched. He fucking hated cops. And knowing that one was sniffing around the garage and the clubhouse after the girl wasn't welcome news. "Probably something that SHOULD be club business, brother," Happy advised.

"Yeah, I know," Kozik agreed. "Next time he's around and gives me a reason I'll mention it. But none of the rest of this shit – for now. We can deal with it when the time comes. Right now we need to focus on our shit, guns, whatever SAMCRO needs. The Kings step to us first and I'll be the first one in line to kill them all. But for now, we keep to our business and that's that." His voice was firm and even a bit forceful.

Happy mulled this over for a second, chewing on the inside of his lower lip. "Alight. But when it's time, and we find those sadistic fuckers….I want my crack at 'em too. She might not be my family but she's obviously yours and I get that, brother. You don't fuck with family."

Kozik clapped his hand on Happy's shoulder affectionately. "There's no one I'd rather have with me when that time comes, Hap."

Happy sat back in his chair and contemplated the pleasure of watching those fuckers bleed out like stuck pigs in front of him.

* * *

><p><strong>So, what did you think? Please review and let me know! Thanks! -Ashley<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi Everyone, so sorry that it's been so long. I had some personal issues crop up as well as a bit of writers block and the other things that normally get in the way work, life, boyfriends who feel that its acceptable to break up with their girlfriends in emails when they're in their late 20s... The good news is that what is starting to unfold is what inspired the whole story in the first place and there's one huge scene in particular that I have been DYING to write and will be in the next chapter or two. I can't wait to write it and you should be back to your regular weekly update schedule. Trust me, I'm looking forward to it as much as you are. **

**Also, in case you didn't notice, I did change the rating of the story to M. There's a little bit of smut in the end of this chapter ;) and will be more to come down the road, so it felt like an appropriate time.  
><strong>

**Without any further rambling, here is it. Pretty please review and let me know what you think!**

Chapter 5

Natalie was being followed. She was sure of it. For the last several weeks, she couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. The first time she chalked it up to paranoia – a shift in routine associated with the guys being back and the garage being open - making her uneasy. But after a few days passed and the distinct, jumpy feeling didn't leave her, she knew. She'd never seen anyone, couldn't pinpoint the direction of the gaze that she felt baring into her skin whenever she stepped foot off of the lot. She had never carried. Even after the attack. But now she didn't go anywhere without the 9mm stashed in one of her designer handbags, the heavy metal offering some satisfaction even if it was fleeting.

She had considered mentioning it to Koz, but immediately thought better of it. The charter was just getting off the ground again, back to running for SAMCRO and monitoring shipments in and out of Puget Sound. The last thing she needed was anyone getting distracted about nothing and losing focus. For now, she took comfort in their presence and left the garage as little as possible.

Unfortunately, tonight she didn't have the option of staying close to home and as she adjusted her hair in the vanity in her apartment even she had to admit that she looked scared. Her blue eyes looked more steely gray in contrast to the black top that she was wearing. Her eye makeup was a bit heavier than normal, a smoky purple. She had hoped that it would disguise from the slightly red-rimmed sketchy look she'd been sporting as of late that seemed to have caught the notice of at least Happy – who said nothing but looked at her with slightly narrowed eyes as though he was constantly trying to gauge her. It was Friday night and the men would be distracted enough to not pay her too much attention. She slipped into her black Rock & Republic ankle boots – they were her high fashion biker boots, she had mused when she bought them - slipped the 9 into her white Chanel bag and slid her sunglasses onto her face before heading down stairs, checking the lock twice.

* * *

><p>Happy watched her from the shadows near the clubhouse entrance. She was spooked, he was sure of it. She was almost dressed incognito, dark jeans and a black long sleeved tee, black heels. Far different from the light blues and creams she normally wore. Koz had said she had some meeting with her lawyer, or accountant…something garage related, maybe.<p>

"Over drinks on Friday night is an interesting choice for a business meeting," Hap had suggested quietly to Kozik, implying that perhaps she was meeting up with the deputy.

Kozik had laughed quickly before rolling his eyes at the paranoid biker. "Look man, I know you hate cops, but trust me on this one. Nat hates that one more than you do. She's meeting with her friend – handles all of her inheritance shit from her parents."

Happy still looked skeptical. "If it makes you feel any better, pretty sure her lawyer friend is named Jenny." It did make Happy feel better and he didn't like what that possibly meant. He refused to warm up to the bitch.

"Whatever man," he sneered at Kozik, slamming his glass down on the table in front of him as he moved to stand. "I don't care what the little bitch does, so long as she's not bringin' cops around the clubhouse." He brushed past Kozik before he could form a reply and the door to the clubhouse slammed loudly behind him.

It had been a few weeks since he'd told Happy about Natalie's incident with the Kings and for the first time ever, he'd had a hard time reading the killer. Happy had been angry, or more appropriately and rightfully, murderous after he'd told him about the attack. And then within a few days it was like it had never happened, Happy was back to treating the girl with contempt, possibly slightly more subtly than before. There was a darkening side to Happy that Kozik could feel building, like the air shifted before a violent storm. He snapped quickly and stared menacingly at his brothers, challenging them over nothing. It was uncharacteristic for Happy - acting like a caged animal. Kozik was wondering if the time behind bars had affected Happy more than he had realized.

Kozik had been attracted to the camaraderie that the Sons offered, and of course the cash. And Happy had appreciated those things as well. The Sons were his family. But there was a wild, unhinged anger in Happy that needed to be sated by the violence that his position in the club provided. There was always something calmer behind his eyes after he'd pulled the trigger or wiped a blade clean. Something that he was able to reel in just a little bit. It unsettled Kozik a little bit, but he'd always known that that was a big difference between him and Happy. Happy was feral, thrived off of the kill – the fight to survive. For Kozik those things were an often-unpleasant side effect of the life he had chosen. For Happy, those things were a way of life. Kozik hoped that Happy would take a ride and clear his head a little bit. If not, in a few hours there would be plenty of other ways to clear his head in the clubhouse.

* * *

><p>Natalie laughed a genuine, real laugh for the first time in what felt like ages. Jennifer Castro was almost ten years older than her and had been handling her finances since she had come back to Tacoma. Since she was in her mid twenties there was no longer anything in her inheritance that required a lawyer. She had access to all of the investments and accounts set up by her parents. But Natalie felt like it was good business, a system of checks and balances to ensure that she was thinking through each decision that she made and that every "i" was dotted. A friendship with Jenny had been a welcome bonus and though they weren't particularly close, anytime they had business they turned it into a night out. Jenny had just finished telling her another of her dating horror stories and Natalie laughed along, grateful that she didn't have time for dating because surely some of these stories could be her own.<p>

They had shared almost an entire bottle of Pinot Noir and Natalie's toes were starting to get a little tingly, indicating that it was probably about time to stop. She checked her phone for the time and was surprised it was already a little after 10:00 p.m. She had been hyper aware of her surroundings when they had first entered the jazz bar. Natalie had picked it. She normally preferred dive bars when she was meeting with Jenny. They could get silly and drink beers on tap and eat greasy bar food…but with the unsettling feelings she'd had lately she opted for something a little bit nicer, hoping that if someone was following her they would stick out a little bit easier. The Mexican population of concern wasn't really the Jazz type…

Jenny stepped away to take a phone call and Natalie took the opportunity during her absence to look around. She felt slightly uneasy in the large bar but nothing compared to how she'd felt out running errands periodically. At the grocery store and the bank she felt like her stomach was in her throat. Truthfully there was a part of her that wanted to turn around and yell to the unseen threat to get it over with already. She would rather be attacked again than constantly live with the unknown, with the constant fear.

Jenny scurried back to their table, a look of apology clear on her face. "You okay if we call it a night? The guy from dinner Tuesday night wants to meet up for a nightcap."

Natalie smiled at her before nodding, noticing for the first time Jenny's heavier makeup and lower cut top. Clearly she'd been anticipating this invitation. "Mmhmmm, nightcap." She hugged her friend, refusing her money to settle the check and watched as she headed out of the bar. As soon as she'd paid the bill and headed into the cool evening air, the familiar feeling of dread settled and she'd wished like hell that she'd asked Jenny to wait and walked her to her car.

* * *

><p>He saw her friend exit the bar first, heading quickly to her car. Waiting a few more minutes paid off and the blonde walked slowly from the door, stopping a few feet outside the entrance to take in her surroundings. She was clearly on edge. Visibly jumpy. She rummaged in her purse, pulling out her keys, took one look around and walked swiftly in the direction of her car. He had no attention of approaching her tonight, instead taking pleasure as she looked repeatedly over her shoulder, her long mane of hair swishing in her urgency to make it safely to cover. She appeared as though she was going to reach into her purse again. Was she going to make a call? She thought better of it and slowed as she reached her car. Fucking smart bitch. If he'd wanted her tonight, that's where he would've taken her. She approached the car hesitantly, looking in all directions as she unlocked it and then opened and closed the door in one fluid motion. He was far enough away that he couldn't hear the door click, but he was positive she'd locked it as soon as she could. She pulled out of the parking lot quickly, probably watching to see if she was being followed. But that's where her smarts failed her. The GPS monitoring he'd installed in her car would tell him exactly where she was…so he never had to follow too close.<p>

* * *

><p>By the time that Natalie pulled into the lot at Tacoma Auto she thought her heart might explode. It had been pounding erratically and she'd been so distracted by the red flags thrown up by her body's natural reaction to fear that she hadn't even turned on the radio. She felt her guard fall slightly as she looked at the bikes pristinely lined up near the fence. She was safe here. No one would attack her near the clubhouse, not again. Not with all of the Sons present. She reached into her purse and pulled out the 9mm before flipping the safety on and settling back in her seat and taking a deep breath.<p>

The noise of someone rapping on the car window startled her so much that she screamed and fumbled for the gun still settled in her lap before looking to acknowledge the source of the sound. Happy was leaned down; almost eye level studying her with a mixture of shock and surprise. She collapsed back against her seat once again and closed her eyes for a brief moment before reaching to unlock the door. Instantly, the door was jerked open and she was being appraised with the most intensity she could recall.

"What?" she muttered weakly. The last few weeks had left her nerves fried and she didn't have the energy to strategically handle Happy they way she'd normally been working hard to do.

He raised an eyebrow and reached forward. She jumped as his hand brushed her leg and he lifted the handgun from her lap. "You're carrying." It was a statement not a question and suddenly Natalie felt heavy. Physically and mentally she was spent and wanted nothing more than to retreat to her apartment and fall into bed. The very last thing that she wanted to do was be interrogated by anyone, much less someone she had a tumultuous relationship with, at best.

She gripped the gun firmly and began to pull it from Happy's hand. His hold on the metal instantly tightened and she met his darkened stare for the first time. She flinched slightly, but didn't remove her hand from the 9mm. His eyes were hard and she was instantly reminded of his responsibilities for the Sons. If they had crossed paths anywhere other than here, Natalie would've been terrified, but after the level of fear that had been eating up and taking residence in her psyche lately, she was only moderately perturbed. Happy jerked his hand back quickly, removing the gun from her grasp and popping the clip free. He examined it quickly. It was fully loaded and he snapped the clip back into place before handing her back the gun, handle first. Natalie reached out and retrieved it, her eyes never leaving his. Happy didn't remove his hand, instead letting the barrel slide through his callused fingers.

The motion and the unblinking gaze were somehow erotic and between the wine she'd consumed at dinner and the adrenaline pumping through her body she briefly wondered what it would be like to be with him. What the hang around bitches must feel as he ran those callused hands up and down their bodies… She imagined he was forceful, nothing like she'd ever experienced before - and somehow the idea of letting this man dominate her mind and her body, even for a brief few moments seemed like an ideal escape from the terror she'd been living the last few weeks. He stepped back from the opened car door enough to allow her to snap out of her reverie and gather her things before standing. He leaned against the car as she closed the door, never easing his harsh gaze stare. She moved to pass Happy to finally retreat to the safety of her apartment after what had been a very long day.

* * *

><p>For the briefest moment as she walked by Happy didn't know what the fuck he was doing. It was like his arm shot out of its own volition, his fingers instinctively wrapping around her thin wrist. Despite her tough exterior, Happy was intimately aware of her fragile nature. She had looked crazed when his knuckles had wrapped on the window of her car. And when he'd spotted her fumbling with the gun in her lap for a moment before recognition dawned in her eyes he briefly wondered if the bitch had gone crazy. But now, as he tightened his grip on her wrist and spun her around, her small body colliding violently with his own, he wondered if he wasn't the one that was losing it.<p>

His hand brushed her side where he knew her scars and secrets lived and she flinched so briefly that if he hadn't been looking for it, he would've missed it entirely. Her lips pursed slightly and her features seemed to tighten, as though she were steeling herself for some confrontation. He considered reaching under the fabric of her shirt and touching the wounds, as he'd thought of many times since seeing them in her apartment, but he knew that any illusions between them would be shattered then and that Natalie would retreat and build up her walls quicker than before. He'd never get near her again, and he would never get to figure her out. She wasn't always as tough as she liked to think, but the bitch was careful. He studied her cautiously. He was gripping her wrist hard and knew that he was probably hurting her, though she didn't cry out or give any outward indication of pain. Her body was pressed tightly to his, an unplanned outcome of how he'd grabbed her. He could feel the heat emanating from her body, even through his cut. Her eyes darted briefly to his lips and he stroked her side again, harder, without much thought. Did the bitch actually think he was going to kiss her? He wasn't. Hadn't even considered it. In fact, that he was touching her at all was very out of character for him and knowing that this was probably one of the most intimate ways that he could touch this woman in particular was oddly thrilling, despite the fact that he touched other women in much more satisfying ways.

She seemed to be searching his face for a moment, her resolve replaced with confusion as her eyes narrowed and her nose crinkled slightly. She glanced briefly at his mouth again, licking her lips. He pulled her closer to him, one hand still gripping her wrist while the other locked on her ribcage, feeling every intimate curve of her body, their faces close enough to nearly touch.

"Why are you carrying?" she didn't seem to hear him at first and he shook her slightly to get her intention. Her eyes snapped open…as though she was realizing their compromising position for the first time. "Why?"

Natalie thought that her voice sounded strange as it left her, "safety first." He studied her for another moment, leaning forward slightly and placing his mouth by her ear. He inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of her perfume and shampoo. Christ, she even smelled expensive. His voice was a whisper when he spoke again, his nose and cheek grazing the side of her face.

"You know how to shoot it?"

She nodded and he pulled back to look at her face again. He was too close - in more ways than one. Her eyelids drifted closed and her lips parted slightly as though to welcome him.

"Good." And with that he brushed past her and towards the clubhouse, leaving her to wonder if the encounter had even happened at all.

* * *

><p>When Happy returned to the clubhouse, he went straight for his favorite crow eater, pulling her away from the hang around she was flirting with, ignoring his protests and dragging her towards the dorms. The blonde bitch had him all riled again and he needed to do something about it before he followed her to her apartment and fucked her right on the stairs, or worse, against her car in the parking lot. He hated that she got under his skin. Hated that he wanted to know how she felt, how she tasted. He had never intended to get close to her in the parking lot like he had. He'd gone out for a smoke as she pulled in and when she didn't get out of her car his curiosity got the better of him. She'd been strange lately, jumpy, less confident. Her confidence normally pissed him off, but seeing her stripped of it was unsettling. She didn't even look like herself tonight. Her makeup had been heavy and dark, her long hair curled into soft waves. Not that he disliked the vamped up version of her – on the contrary – he had pictured her hair wrapped around his fingers as he held her hands above her head and thrust into her. And that was why he needed to get the fuck away from her.<p>

Normally focused on the task at hand, especially when it came to a bitch, Happy was distracted and as the random bitch moved over him, the satisfaction he should be enjoying was dampened by his thoughts. He shoved the girl off of him, grabbing her and pushing her up against the wall, her back pressed against his chest. He tangled his fingers through her hair forcefully as he pinned her hands above her head, pushing into her quickly. She cried out in what he suspected was supposed to sound like pleasure, but he knew she was faking it. He didn't care. He just wanted to ease the pressure a little bit and then the bitch could get to walking. His thrusts got quicker as he tried to finish, biting her shoulder roughly. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, imagining the way that SHE had smelled in the parking lot instead of the woman he was pressing into the wall – all cigarettes and cheap perfume. He thought about the way she had looked at him, licking her lips – not because she was trying to be seductive, but just because she had truly wanted him to touch her.

He could feel his orgasm start to build as he pictured the blonde writhing underneath him, looking at him with those big blue gray eyes. His hand traveled down the side of the bitch's body and he ran his fingers over her ribcage as he finally felt release, imagining the rough flesh that he'd finally been so close to touching only minutes before. As he regained his bearings, he pulled his jeans up and gave the girl a look that left her collecting her things and skittering towards the door as quickly as possible. He sat on the bed and lit a cigarette, waiting for the calm that overtook him after sex. It didn't come. Instead, his mind was still filled with images of the blonde bitch, handling that 9mm and pressing her tits up against his chest. God he fucking wanted her. But he was worried for the first time that'd she'd done more than gotten under his skin, she'd gotten in his head. And that was nowhere for a bitch to be. Desperate to quiet the noise in his head, he slipped on his cut, placing his handgun in its holster and fastening his favorite blade to his belt.

* * *

><p>Kozik could see Happy weaving through the crowd, expression unreadable as though he was on a mission. Happy had entered the clubhouse only minutes earlier and dragged a girl down towards his dorm. But this was a different type of mission. His face was twisted and he was focused. The crowd was thick and Kozik couldn't tell if Happy was carrying, but based on everything he knew about his brother – he was coming unglued and something needed to give quickly, before they were all in a hell of a lot of trouble. Unaware of Kozik burning a hole through him with his worried stare, Happy hurried through the door and out into the night.<p>

**Well, what did you think? Please review and let me know. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi All, I'm not going to waste your time with details. Just know how sorry I am about the delay. This chapter contains the scene that I started planning the whole story around - and I couldn't do it justice as much as I tried. But I feel really great about how it came out and I hope you think so too. I HATE when authors take forever to update - so long that you have to go back and re-read the last several chapters...so I'm sorry that I did it to you. I'd like to thank LuvDavidLaBrava and PiratesLife for sending me messages/leaving reviews encouraging me to continue. It really did help. So I hope all of you like it and can forgive me. Now that I've pushed through this chapter, it should be smooth sailing from here. Please read, review and enjoy! -Ashley**

Chapter 6

"Where's Happy?" Kozik asked Autie and JD, who were sidled up to the bar enjoying a little of the hair of the dog that bit them the night before. It was almost noon on Sunday and Kozik was just rolling out of bed. Though to be fair he'd only gone to bed about 6 hours earlier.

"Not sure man, haven't seen him since last night," JD responded, holding out a glass of whiskey to Kozik who took it gratefully.

"What about you Hutch?"

The prospect flipped the towel he'd been using over his shoulder and turned to look at the three patched members addressing him. He'd been up pretty early restocking the bar and cleaning up empty and broken bottles scattered around the clubhouse.

"Nah, man. Haven't seen him either."

Kozik shook his head slightly, and pulled up next to his brothers at the bar. This had become Hap's new m.o., sneaking off when no one was paying him any attention only to turn up later with no explanation for where he'd been other than that he'd been out riding. Kozik wasn't sure how long exactly it had been happening, though he had noticed it more than a week earlier as Happy disappeared from a Friday night party, looking determined and lethal. Since then it seemed like Happy was around for work, church and club business but otherwise was nowhere to be found – regardless of time of day. Kozik briefly considered that Happy was shacking up with someone, but Happy wasn't the type. And there was something pretty menacing and soldier like about his behavior as of late. Though never one to mince words, or talk just for the sake of hearing his own smoky voice, Hap had been damn near silent.

The door to the clubhouse flipped open and the bright sunlight was a shock against the hooded daylight that normally flooded the clubhouse. After the door closed and Kozik's eyes readjusted to the dingy lighting he realized that Natalie had just walked in, shuffling through a few papers as she walked slowly towards the bar.

"Morning Nat," Hutch greeted her before the others had a chance. She lifted her gaze from the paperwork and smiled at the four men before her.

"Good morning, well…almost good afternoon. You guys have a good time last night? Clubhouse doesn't look too worse for the wear," she appraised.

"Nah, you know it was a rager like usual, we just had the little gopher up extra early doing cleanup," Autie offered, reaching forward as though he was going to ruffle the prospects hair before Hutch laughed and dodged out of the way.

Natalie shot a mock reproachful look at them all before Kozik caught her attention. "I know it's a long shot Nat, but any idea when Happy might've taken off either last night or this morning?"

Natalie weighed her options carefully. She actually did know when Happy had left last night and had come into the clubhouse for the sole purpose of catching wind as to where he might've gotten off to and when he'd be back. Ever since he'd pressed her against her car in the parking lot she had been paying more and more attention to his comings and goings. She wasn't sure if she was hoping for another run-in or trying to avoid it. Happy seemed to be off on more and more club assignments lately and she was having a hard time keeping track of him. But letting on that she'd been monitoring the scary biker wasn't something that she was planning on sharing with the group.

"Hmmm. Not sure," she answered flippantly, suddenly pretending to find something interesting on the end of month paperwork she was working on to avoid any further scrutiny. "But I did hear some straight pipes pull off the lot around 1:30, maybe 2."

Natalie had always been a light sleeper, and it wasn't strange for bikes coming or going to wake her up at all hours of the night. In fact, since everyone had been back, she found it oddly soothing – like the garage and the club were finally breathing again. But when Natalie had those disturbances to her sleep it wasn't hard to just roll over and fall back into a deep sleep. The night before she'd been in bed reading, as the volume of the music coming from the clubhouse would've prevented her from getting any decent rest anyways, when she heard a bike start. Bounding out of bed toward the living area windows, where she was fully bathed in darkness, she peered into the lot just in time to see a hooded figure, with no cut pull out of the lot. Based on his posture she had been almost positive it was Happy and had waited up into the early hours of the morning to see if he would return. He hadn't. And the fact that Kozik wasn't sure where he was made her more than a little uneasy.

* * *

><p>Mid afternoon found most of the charter members that didn't have family hanging around in the garage or around the ring just outside the clubhouse as various members half-heartedly sparred. It didn't escape anyone's notice when Happy pulled into the lot and backed his bike into his vacant place in line. It had especially peaked Kozik's interest as well as caught the attention of Natalie who was finishing up her end of month paperwork in her office. Though she didn't dare come out, she did turn down her radio in hopes of catching any exchange as he approached the group.<p>

Kozik, on the other hand, wasn't much for subtlety. Instead, he pushed up off of the bench he'd been sitting on and strode quickly towards Happy who was adjusting something in his saddlebags. "What's up brother?" he asked as he approached. Happy's head snapped up as he quickly closed and locked his bags.

"Nothing, Koz. How's it going?" Happy replied nonchalantly. He looked a little tired and worn, but otherwise his face betrayed nothing.

Kozik paused for a second to keep his tone from coming across as accusatory, "Good, good. Where did you get off to this morning?"

Happy rubbed a palm over his head, feeling the stubble that was beginning to grow under his fingertips. "Nowhere interesting, bro. Just felt like going for a ride. Now I think I'm going to grab a drink and some grub and take a long fucking nap." He yawned for emphasis. Kozik was beginning to lose patience with this cat and mouse game bullshit. He understood the need for the open road and a little space from time to time, but Hap was not acting right. Something was definitely going on. He opened his mouth to push the issue further when a vehicle entering the lot caught the attention of both men. The unwelcome visitor wasn't missed by the rest of the Sons either, who all stopped what they were doing to watch the squad car that was coming to a stop. That was how Natalie spotted them when she glanced out of the office window – the formidable presence of the Sons standing, arms crossed staring menacingly at Deputy Lochner, who was standing, shielded by the open door of his cruiser, one hand resting casually on his holster.

She pushed away from the desk quickly, stepping into the doorway of the office.

"Gentleman," Deputy Lochner referenced the men grouped only feet from him, seemingly unphased despite never having encountered this group before. He'd had his fair number of run ins with the Sons, particularly Kozik, over the last couple of years, but hadn't been to Tacoma Auto since the rest of the charter had been released, save to drop Natalie off from dinner the last time they spoke. Since then she had dodged his calls, refusing to agree to see him. So when an opportunity presented to pay a visit to her during the daylight hours, he could barely contain his excitement at putting those criminals in their rightful place in her mind. And that rightful place was far below him. Lochner had no idea how much Natalie was aware of the Sons' illegal activities. He figured that she at least had to know that they ran guns as it landed several of them quite a lengthy sentence. Beyond that, he wasn't sure. But he was about to find out. "I'm here to see Miss. Renton."

"For what purpose?" Lee asked, breaking the line and taking a step towards the Deputy.

"I'm afraid that's official police business," Lochner replied, actually smiling. He could feel the distrust and anger growing more and more palpable by the moment. The group of men all seemed to surge forward as though the tense situation could erupt at any moment.

"And what police business is that?" Natalie's voice cut through the air bringing far more pairs of eyes to her than she was comfortable with. Deputy Lochner appraised her from behind his sunglasses from head to toe. Her hair was pulled into a messy knot at the back of her neck, causing only her bangs to frame her angular face. She wore minimal makeup, a simple tank top, well-worn jeans, a loose fitting long cardigan and sandals. As if sensing his scrutiny, Natalie instinctively tucked her arms around herself, steeling herself from his gaze. Lochner took a step towards the office, a manila file folder clenched in his hand, and turned to address the Sons.

"Sorry, gentlemen, but my instructions are to speak to Miss. Renton alone." As he disappeared into the office, closing the door behind him, the men in the parking lot closed ranks.

"What the fuck is that cop doing here?" Happy forcefully voiced what everyone was wondering but his gaze was trained on Kozik, referencing their talk a few weeks prior. They had agreed if the deputy was digging around that his proximity to Natalie and possibly her past run-ins with the Kings needed to be fully disclosed to the club.

"I don't know," Kozik replied honestly. He had no idea if there actually was any police business or if this was just another attempt by deputy dickbag to try to win Natalie over.

"Well I don't like it. I know she's a grown woman, but she shouldn't be talking to him without a lawyer present," Lee said, concern growing for his niece. He had seen in the past several weeks, since their release, that Natalie was tougher than he gave her credit for. Plus, he made every attempt possible at keeping club business from her. So there was nothing for her to tell to a nosy officer looking for dirt on fresh parolees. Lee made a move towards the office but was stopped by Kozik.

"Hang on for a second, Lee. She can handle herself – this may not have anything to do with us at all and if we go in there demanding to know what he wants it could shift us onto his radar, which is something we certainly don't need since we just started runs again."

Kozik could feel Happy's accusing glare practically burning him but Lee nodded begrudgingly in agreement and they all fell silent as they waited.

"Look Deputy Lochner, I don't know why you're here, but you need to leave the lot. I've made it very clear to you that I have no interest in you and that it would be better if we didn't continue to speak." Natalie was leaning back in her chair, arms still crossed. Lochner pursed his lips distastefully before pulling his sunglasses from their perch on his face and sliding them into his front uniform pocket.

"Someone is awfully self assured," he mused, sitting on the edge of her desk, peering down at her. "I really am here on police business. But I appreciate you thinking that you were important enough for me to come down here and beg."

He was pushing her buttons and he knew it. Although he really did have a reason for his trip to Tacoma Auto, it was something that he knew he wouldn't get any satisfactory information on anyways. Really he could've sent a rookie to just do some routine questioning and follow-up but he hadn't been able to resist the opportunity. He flipped the envelope open in front of Natlie and watched in satisfaction as she recoiled at the graphic image.

"What the fuck, Brian?"

"Oh so now it's Brian? It was Deputy Lochner a few minutes ago," he goaded.

Natalie recovered quickly, though she still refused to look down at the image in front of her. "I'm sorry, would you prefer I call you Deputy?" He regarded her carefully for a minute before dismissing her with a small laugh.

"Of course not Natalie, we've known each other for years. Now, can you please take a look at these images?" He fanned the picture that had caused her reaction to reveal several more like it. She glanced quickly – there were at least 5.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know why you're showing me these pictures. What is this about?" Her voice was meek and she wasn't sure if she could glance again without throwing up.

"I understand Natalie, but I need to know if you recognize any of these men."

Her gaze never wavered from his. "If you need me to verify the identity of someone, I would think that there would be more humane and reliable methods than showing me these types of pictures."

Deputy Lochner considered her for a minute. She seemed very composed on the surface, but her eyes kept darting to the door. He wasn't sure if she was waiting to be rescued or planning to make an escape.

"My sincere apologies, really, but unfortunately these are the images that we have to show you today. These 6 men have all been murdered in Tacoma in the last three weeks. This one," he paused pointing to the picture on top of the pile, "was murdered two nights ago."

"I can't imagine what that could have to do with me." Natalie was coming unglued as her eyes darted back and forth from the photos to the Deputy's face. She was visibly shaking, her hand resting on her stomach as though it might keep the churning contents at bay. Though her brain refused to focus on the pictures, she could tell from her peripheral glances that they were crime scene photos, close up and bloody.

"Well, Natalie, all 6 of these men are, excuse me, WERE members of the Tacoma Kings." Lochner was waiting to gauge her reaction and got exactly what he was hoping for. Her eyes grew wide as she looked at him, disbelief and fear written across her face. He continued before she could fully come to grips with the news. "So as you can imagine, since you have a history of run-ins with the Kings, it would only be natural to assume that you might have some information on this recent rash of murders."

Natalie turned, emptying her stomach contents into the garbage bin next to her desk. Luckily she hadn't eaten since breakfast, and her stomach was mostly empty. She felt woozy, both from this new piece of information and from the uncomfortable feeling of throwing up. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve before softly blowing her nose into a tissue. Once she was composed, she looked him dead in the eye, as confidently as she could, having just gotten sick in front of him. "Brian, as you'll recall, I have only had one altercation with the Tacoma Kings, well over four years ago. As an organization composed of drug dealers and criminals, I am sure that there is a greater lead than me."

The Deputy stood, gazing out her window. "You and I both know that the Kings were responsible for more than just roughing this place up a few years ago, on record or not. And I find it awfully coincidental that after your motorcycle gang gets released from prison, bodies start piling up on my doorstep, don't you?"

As he turned on her she realized that his features had shifted and were now far more accusatory and angry than they had been previously. She stood, subconsciously attempting to level the divide between them. She placed both hands on her hips, not to look more menacing, but in case she needed to reach for the 9mm she'd been carrying for weeks that currently rested in the waistband of her jeans. When she was in the office she always kept it in her top desk drawer, safety off…but when she had heard the squad car pull in, she had put the safety on and tucked it into her the back of her pants. Why, she wasn't sure. The Sons wouldn't let anything happen to her, especially not here. But she'd found that it eased the feelings of discomfort that had been growing lately. Just knowing that if she got into a bad situation she'd at least have a chance at defending herself this time, gave her peace. If she was thinking with any sense of rationality, she would realize that even thinking about her gun in the presence of an officer was a bad choice. But between being on edge for the last several weeks, her ongoing weirdness with Happy and feeling more and more unhinged by the minute as those pictures stared up at her from her desk, she couldn't think clearly.

"I don't have any information that can help you, I'm sorry. And I don't think that I would like to speak with you again about any of this without an attorney present. To be clear, not because I feel like I have any information that would necessitate an attorney, but because I don't appreciate the way that you are speaking to me…not to mention showing me those pictures being totally uncalled for."

Lochner nodded, feeling smug and that he had accomplished his intended goal, rattling Natalie's cage. Maybe now if she knew what these men were really capable of she would realize that he was the superior choice. He reached past Natalie, closing the offending folder and placing his sunglasses back on.

"I'm sorry, Natalie. I certainly didn't mean to upset you. I'm just trying to do my job. If you hear anything or think of anything that could help…" he trailed off opening the office door and stepping outside.

As soon as the door opened, Lee stepped forward, flanked by Kozik, the other Sons a few feet behind them.

"Everything alright, Deputy?" Lee's tone was more respectful than Kozik's would have been and he was glad that his president spoke first.

"Absolutely, I was just asking Natalie here," he gestured to the office door where she had just materialized, "a few questions about some old business."

"I bet you were," Kozik replied. After the comment fell from his mouth he instantly regretted it. Natalie's red-rimmed eyes bulged slightly as she took a few steps towards the group, stopping just short of Kozik and her uncle. She was shaking and looked like hell. His fists clenched on reflex as he took another challenging step forward. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing happened, I'm fine," Natalie assured unconvincingly, desperate to diffuse the situation and get the Deputy away from her and from the Sons before he did any damage.

"Well, if you must know, I was asking Natalie a few questions about some murders in town…" his voice trailed off. He was challenging Kozik, wondering how far he was willing to take this situation.

"Murders?" Her uncle interrupted loudly, "what would Nat have to do with any murders?"

The Deputy laughed, "oh old man, I'm not naïve. I don't believe that Natalie had anything to do with any murders, but suddenly a certain group of outlaw bikers is paroled and a rival they have an unsettled score with starts having a body pile up. You can't expect me to believe that she doesn't know anything about that. That maybe when her uncle and his friends came home, she begged them for retribution and they were only too happy to oblige."

The group gathered around the exchange looked obviously confused but before they had any more time to process what the Deputy was saying, they were interrupted by Natalie's loud voice.

"That is enough, Brian! If you would like to ask me any more questions I will be happy to come down to the station with my lawyer to speak with you." She felt downright insane. Was that really Lochner's angle? Did he honestly think that she'd told the club and sought some sort of revenge? It had been completely the opposite. Natalie had sworn the few who knew to complete secrecy and glancing around at the confused faces looking back at her she felt confident that it had stayed that way. Her eyes landed briefly on Happy, who was studying her curiously. That caused her to pause for a minute. Did Happy know something about her attack? It was impossible for her to fathom the thought as she focused on getting the Deputy off the lot before he could say anything else.

"It's Deputy Lochner, please, Miss. Renton," he stated smugly snapping her out of her thoughts.

Finally giving into the desperation that had been trying to claw out of her since he'd arrived, Natalie rounded on him, watching his overconfident smile waver momentarily. "Listen, I don't care what the FUCK you would like to be called. Unless you have a warrant for my arrest you can get off of my property, NOW!" She was yelling, and gesturing wildly. Kozik reached for her and she shrugged out of his grasp. She knew she looked insane, especially since the men standing behind her had no idea what was happening. But he just needed to leave. Why wouldn't he leave?

Deputy Lochner regained his composure and held his hands up in mock surrender as he backed closer to his car, that damn folder tucked under his arm. Natalie calmed only slightly. Her insides were vibrating and she felt cornered. This asshole needed to get off the lot, now. He opened his car door, tossing the folder onto the passenger seat, before turning to her one last time.

"Oh, Miss. Renton?" She took a few steps towards him, attempting to move out of the earshot of the men surrounding her.

"I'll be talking to you soon."

"Don't fucking bother unless you're planning on talking to my lawyer," she spat the words at him, turning to walk back towards her office. She'd made it two or three steps when she hurt him mutter under his breath. She spun around, her sweater billowing around her and if anyone caught the glimmer of her gun as she reached back to pull it out, they didn't have a chance to react before she had it pointed dead center into the Deputy's forehead. "What did you just say to me?"

* * *

><p>They say things like this normally happen in slow motion but Natalie felt like everything was happening too fast. She could hear the men behind her telling her to put the gun down, see the look of shock in Brian fucking Lochner's eyes and could feel the white hot rage bubbling inside of her. "What did you fucking say to me?"<p>

She knew the men were right behind her, could feel the heat from their bodies, yet no one reached out to touch her, afraid she might break at any second.

"Nothing, Natalie. I didn't say anything." Lochner replied, his hands raised once again in surrender – this time for real.

"It's Miss Renton, please." She sneered at him, taking another step towards him, the muzzle of her gun only inches from his face. Despite the fact that she was shaking noticeably, her hand remained steady, her grip tense. "What. Did. You. Say." He mumbled again and she stepped closer still. "Louder."

"I said - if you hadn't been such a stupid bitch we could've had a family." Lochner looked away from her intense gaze as he repeated himself. Certainly she wouldn't shoot a cop, right? Especially in broad daylight? After a few seconds, he turned to look at her. Her head was cocked to the side, as if she was weighing those very same questions. She chuckled once, lowering the gun slightly before raising it again. She was full on laughing now, almost maniacally.

"A family? A fucking family?" she managed between barked laughs. "We went to dinner a couple of times and you were planning out a cute little family? Well look around, mother fucker, I already have a family!"

And with that declaration she opened her arms, dropping the gun and turning to face the men that stood behind her dumbfounded. She was prepared to be grabbed, have her hands pulled behind her and cuffed - what she wasn't prepared for the violence of it all as her arms were nearly jerked out of the sockets and she was slammed on the trunk of the cop car face first, unable to brace herself.

She heard the men surge forward, could discern a few of their voices, Uncle Lee and Kozik, maybe Lorca. There was a cut on her forehead, near her hairline and she was bleeding, but she didn't think the wound was too bad. She felt like she was yelling, but her head seemed like it was ripping open either way so she wasn't sure.

"PAROLE. Parole, parole, parole!" The noise around her quieted slightly and she had hoped that they had heard her.

"Sorry, baby, but I hope you like company. I ain't on parole." She registered Kozik's voice, watched his fist connect with Lochner's face and then from the gravity of everything that had just happened, slipped quietly out of consciousness.

**So, what did you think? I am halfway through the next chapter already, so I think it's safe to say I'm on a roll! Again, sorry for the delay. Please let me know what you thought, tell me what you liked, didn't like - yell at me for the delay...anything! I just love to hear from you!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi All,**

**So, not as quickly as I'd hoped to update but a HELL of a lot better than I did between the last two chapters. I'm hoping it will just continue to get better. I want to thank everyone for a really fantastic reception for the last chapter. I was truly blown away by all of the reviews, especially after my prolonged absence. This chapter is a bit less action than the last chapter (though we do get to see the whole confrontation from Happy's perspective) and the next chapter will begin to set the stage for the rest of the story. There are several threads that I'm hoping to weave in here and I'm really liking how its starting to come together. So read, review and let me know what you think! Thanks! -Ashley  
><strong>

Chapter 7

"Natalie," Kozik's voice rang out and though she couldn't see him, his voice had been practically a constant since she'd come to in the small holding cell. She had to pee desperately, but she would be damned if she would do it here, out in the open. Her head was pounding and she could feel a bandage and a line of stitches underneath her fingers as she reached up to touch her forehead. She couldn't make herself bother to care if it would scar. "C'mon Nat. Talk to me, please."

She rolled her eyes and rested her shoulders back on the hard cement wall. There was no window in the cell, but judging by the heavy, empty feeling in her stomach and the fatigue that had long set in, she was guessing that it was probably mid evening, maybe around 7 or 8. She hadn't bothered asking to speak to a lawyer, figuring that the second her and Kozik had been arrested the club had been all over it.

Kozik had been hollering at her on and off for a while. He would try to talk to her for several minutes before falling silent after a handful of attempts. Then he'd wait a while and start up again. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to him, more that she didn't know if she could. She knew he probably wanted answers…that Uncle Lee and the others would demand them as well. And right now she didn't have any. She couldn't explain why she'd reacted the way that she had – couldn't explain why she might very well be going to prison for quite some time. They'd taken booking photos and her fingerprints, a first for her. Truthfully, while she desperately wanted to go home, shower and go to sleep, she was grateful for the silence that presented right now. Most of all, Natalie didn't want to have to answer questions about what Deputy Lochner had insinuated before she'd pulled her gun. The truth was going to come out, there was no choice now…but Natalie was starting to hope that she could be remanded into custody with no chance of parole until trial. By then the looks of pity would have to have faded and no one would be mad at her for concealing the truth for years.

And then there was Happy. Suddenly his behavior made sense. He must have found out some how – probably Kozik – since those two were always attached at the damn hip. She had felt like he was avoiding the garage and by extension, her for weeks. She had thought that it was club business but had come to realize that Kozik didn't have any explanation for Happy's absence either. He was avoiding her – had realized she was damaged goods. Subconsciously, her hand traveled to the spot on her side where the brutal reminders of her attack remained, the physical manifestations anyway. There were probably more psychological scars associated with that night than Natalie chose to acknowledge. Living in the protected fold that the Sons provided had kept her from fully dealing with the fear and other emotions that should've plagued her. She wanted to cry, to grieve the things she'd lost – her innocence, her garage, her privacy, her family, hell, her freedom…but she was numb. Something had snapped as she pulled the gun from behind her back, and it wasn't something that she could easily put back into its rightful place.

* * *

><p>The mood at the clubhouse was somber. All of the Tacoma members sat, almost silently, save for a few muttered words here or there. After the squad car had pulled off the lot, there had been chaos, followed by action and now the uneasiness of the aftermath had set in. There were a lot of unknowns. Lee had wanted to know what had happened in that office that set his level headed niece off into hysterics. Natalie was always collected. It had never applied to her, but she was the epitome of brains before bullets. Seeing her today about to put a bullet in that cop's brain had been one of the most shocking things that Lee had experienced in his entire life. While he knew that Autie knew things that he wasn't letting on to, the president's first priority was to get his niece and his brother back under his roof. Then the questioning would start and none of them would be getting a pass.<p>

The silence was heavy, each member waiting for the phone to ring announcing the charges that both Natalie and Kozik would be facing.

Across the room, Happy was every bit as deep in thought as he looked. He took advantage of his brother's distraction to reason through thoughts and observations that he normally would've saved until he was alone, straddling an engine, flying down the road at 90. When he'd briefly locked eyes with the girl earlier a spark of realization flashed in her eyes before she lost her goddamned mind. She was smart; he'd never denied that. It was quite possible that sitting in her 8x10 she had realized that he probably knew her secret. How much she reasoned through beyond that, he didn't know. But he hadn't missed the damn near hateful look Kozik had shot in his direction after the cop had managed to tackle him to the ground. With all of the details that would be coming out, he didn't imagine it would take some of his other brothers long to put the pieces together.

Cracking his knuckles and then his neck with a violent twist from side to side, Happy studied the group around him, trying to gauge their reactions. He realized that whatever happened to Kozik and the girl would probably play a huge part in how his brothers received his transgressions against the club. He didn't think they would strip him of his patch. But he could be ostracized to the point of wanting to go NOMAD. God he fucking hoped that was not how this shit was going to go down, he did not need to be run out from his own fucking club, his own family, because of some young bitch. Even as the thought tumbled around in his brain, it was halfhearted at best. She was a lot of things – infuriating, nosy, too involved – but this mess was on him and he knew it.

Even though he was racking his brain, trying to assess every angle of this bullshit disaster that had erupted out of seemingly nowhere, Happy refused to acknowledge the one thing he wasn't ready to admit to himself – why. He knew he'd have to face the reality of that, soon. And he would face it then. But now, he replayed the events of the day, looking for any moment that he could've stopped it from going down the way it had. When the cop had pulled into the lot, he could've fucking killed Kozik for not bringing this guy's hard on for the girl to the table. Any cop sniffing around the clubhouse was bad for business, but a badge with a borderline obsession of the girl could prove dangerous – too much knowledge, too much to use for leverage. Just too fucking close in general. But when he'd headed straight for the office, Happy's rage shifted to that douchebag, putting him and Kozik firmly back on the same team, even if only temporarily. They couldn't have been in there five minutes before that dickhead had emerged, looking smug. The Sons had closed rank then. He was outnumbered and they hoped to intimidate him into leaving. But when he started to run his mouth and the girl emerged, Happy realized immediately that something was wrong. She was frantic and pale. There was a look of desperation in her eyes that was damn near unnerving.

As the cop continued to goad Kozik, Happy realized why. Her secret she was damned and determined to keep was about to be breaking fucking news, which was now not only bad for her but also bad for Happy. The fewer dots that connected back to him, the better. If Happy had been surprised when she stepped to Lochner, challenging him, he had damn near dropped fucking dead when she spun around, her hand reaching in that familiar motion behind her back. He lunged forward, startling some of his brothers who hadn't realized what was happening yet, only to pull up short when the girl had pulled the piece, arm fully extended. There was no stopping it now – no turning back. Happy withdrew, only slightly. His hand twitched, aching to reach for his holster. But he couldn't. He knew if any of them started flashing weapons it would only be a matter of time before there was a whole station full of cops here, warrants and cuffs in hand. So he did the only think he could do. Backed her. He stood so close to her he could practically feel her body vibrating. Kozik was next to him, Lee on the other side of Kozik. The rest of his brothers grouped behind them. He entertained reaching out for her, steadying her arm and lowering the weapon in hopes of diffusing the situation. But it had already gone too far. There was nothing to do for her now.

Happy didn't think she'd really shoot him until she lowered the gun slightly and then raised it again, more sure than before. The cop had said something stupid but Happy had been so focused on her that he hadn't even been listening. He was so tuned to her movements, like a wild animal stalking its prey, that he was prepared to take her down if necessary, or get her the fuck out of here, depending on how everything went down. He knew based on the way that she had started laughing – a crazy, choked sound – that if he reached out to touch her now, the likelihood of getting shot himself was higher than he'd like. The quietly confident woman that he'd become somewhat accustomed to over the last several weeks was gone, replaced by erratic breathing and heaving shoulders.

"A family? A fucking family?"

Once those words were out of her mouth, Happy's eyes zeroed in on the officer, who up to that point had been receiving little of his attention. Is that what that motherfucker had said? This shit was worse than he thought. Kozik had made it clear that she had only seen him a few times and had made her lack of interest very clear. But this deranged moron seemed to think there was something between them…something serious enough to contemplate a future. Happy had never been to that point in his life and realized that he was probably the exception not the rule – an outlier in social interaction. But this guy was too. Something had to give here, and Happy was willing to accept that if that thing was a bullet through Lochner's skull he would do everything he could to protect her from the blowback. They all would. But just as he considered pulling his own piece out and ending it, saving the girl the trouble and mental anguish of the aftermath, there was an almost imperceptible shift in her body language. Had Hap not been studying her closely he might've missed it. Instead he shifted back, forcing his brothers to do the same as Natalie turned, holding the gun loosely now and opened her arms wide, dropping it off to her right as though it had burned her. She was staring right at him for a moment, then her eyes finding Kozik's before shifting around wildly. Happy didn't even know if she was seeing any of them.

Lochner moved forward quickly, as Happy knew he would now that the major threat had been diffused. As he grabbed the girl, her eyes went wide then closed as the few pieces of hair not secured away from her face blew back from the force of her movement and she collided violently with the back of the cruiser.

"Hey motherfucker," someone yelled as chaos erupted among the men. Happy moved closer, but didn't take his eyes off of her. She was dazed as she lifted her torso as much as she could with her hands bound behind her back. Her hair was stained with red and she blinked several times.

"PAROLE. Parole, parole, parole!" Everything came sharply back into focus as she said those words. Happy looked away from her then for the first time, pulling his brothers back. Smart fucking bitch. If any of them got involved in this, chances of them going back to prison were pretty damn high. Hell, they were at risk just being around when she pulled the gun. Happy shared a meaningful look with Kozik and a nod before Kozik surged forward, his fist connecting. As both men fell to the ground, throwing punches and venting years of hatred for the other, Happy and the others stood and watched. Happy locked eyes with the girl one last time before her body went slack and collapsed all at once.

"Kozik!" He snapped, getting the blonde's attention and distracting him enough that Lochner was able to get in a good shot to his face. Happy directed Kozik's attention as he recovered from the blow to the girl, hunched over next to the car.

"Alright, alright," Kozik held his hands up to surrender, quickly getting cuffed. Lochner turned on the rest of them quickly, seemingly unconcerned about what had just transpired and what fallout might land on him, especially with the unnecessary injury to the girl. Blood ran steadily from his nose and a split lip. He wiped both away with the back of his hand.

"Anyone else?"

The group remained silent and watched as Kozik was loaded into the car first, as he called out to Natalie. Lochner picked the girl up next, sending a challenging and menacing smile at the Sons before placing her in the backseat. He said something into his radio then and got into his car.

Once the cruiser was clear of the lot, hell broke loose.

"What the fuck was that?" Lee demanded loudly. Autie shared a look with Happy that seemed to escape the others, a silent declaration that now was not the time.

Calls to lawyers and the police chief followed, statements were taken from all of them and then it turned into a waiting game.

Lee's prepay ringing kept Happy from delving any deeper into his own psyche as he moved forward, joining his other brothers gathered around their president.

"Okay, thank you Gus, I appreciate it. Keep us posted. Have you had a chance to see her? Can I see her? Okay, thank you. I'll talk to you in the morning. Let me know if anything changes." Lee hung up and threw his prepay on the table roughly.

"Load Kozik's bike on the flatbed. I'm driving it down to the station to get him."

Autie was the first to speak. "Charges?"

"Kozik is clear – seems the good Deputy has been put on administrative leave pending an investigation into his action. Because of that Kozik is in the clear. Natalie has to go before a judge in the morning to see how they want to proceed charging her. Gus thinks that there's a 50/50 chance she'll do time. It would work to her benefit to tell the judge what happened in her office, but so far she has refused to talk to anyone at the station. And that includes Gus. So I'm going to go pick Koz up and see if I can get her to talk to me."

Happy followed the rest of his brothers outside, mounted his bike and watched as the prospects loaded Kozik's bike on to the flat bed. If she wasn't talking to Kozik or Gustuvsen, the lawyer of choice for the Tacoma Sons, then he didn't know what kind of shot Lee would have. But for the sake of getting through to the girl and finding out what happened in that office, Happy hoped there was some chance in hell.

* * *

><p>She had refused to see her uncle, but hadn't been able to escape Kozik as his exit had brought him right past her cell. He'd convinced the officer to leave them for a moment and tried to get through to her.<p>

"Listen, Natalie…they're putting you in front of a judge in the morning. I don't know what happened with Lochner in the office, but you've gotta tell them, whatever it was. You could do serious time. But if you can prove that you were provoked, then maybe it'll be okay." Kozik sounded desperate and Natalie fought the urge to roll her eyes into the back of her head.

"So, when exactly did you tell Happy?"

It was the first words that she'd uttered since she'd reminded the men of their parole status at the garage. The guilty look was all she needed to confirm her suspicions.

"Just go Koz. I'll take care of myself. Go." She dismissed him with a wave of her hand and looked away. She was too exhausted to be angry right now. After a few seconds she heard the rustle of his clothes and the footfall of his boots as he headed away from her. They both knew he had accomplished his goal – to tell her how to handle this hearing. Natalie knew it wasn't wise to refuse to speak with any of them, especially the lawyer, but she hadn't been able to deal with whatever questions they may've had. Not yet anyway. Either way, she knew the next morning was going to be hell and she didn't know what was worse, facing prison time, or facing the truth.

Exiting the police station, the gravity of the situation hadn't escaped Kozik, not by a long shot. Not only had he kept information that could've been detrimental to the club to himself, but now he had some serious concerns about Happy...concerns that he had to investigate before he would bring them up to his brothers and risk Happy's and his own place at the table.

"Anything?" Lee asked, leaning against the drivers side door of the flat bed, smoke looping his face.

"Not much. Told her to tell them or to tell Gus what happened in the office...that it's the only shot she's got. But nothing else."

Lee nodded. "Thanks Koz. I don't know what the hell is going on, though I think you know more than you're letting on. We'll settle all this shit in the morning, after the hearing. Gus is hopeful that regardless of the charges, because the Deputy has been put on leave and Nat doesn't have any kind of a record, she'll at least be able to come home temporarily. After that, we'll have to wait and see. But regardless of how this shit shakes out, I am damn appreciative of what you did today. Put me a little at ease that at least someone was here with her."

Kozik didn't reply immediately. He had been trying to protect his club but by doing so had also withheld information from them that was blowing up in his face and the time-bomb was ticking. "You got it Pres." Kozik mounted his bike and waved briefly to Lee before taking off for Tacoma Auto, hopefully to have a little chat with Happy.

* * *

><p>The hearing had gone faster than she'd anticipated and by the time it was over, all Natalie wanted was a hot shower and some sleep. She was being charged with brandishing a weapon without a concealed carry permit and assault on a law enforcement officer – both misdemeanors in the state of Washington. Her lawyer advised her that between now and her sentencing hearing they likely could get the second charge dropped, due to the badgering and unlawful techniques that the now suspended deputy had used to try to coerce her. For now, she was released on her own recognizance. Kozik, Lee and Hutch had been waiting for her outside the courthouse, the latter with her car. She slid in silently as Hutch followed the others off the lot.<p>

When they pulled back into Tacoma Auto she considered making a mad dash for her apartment, but knew that she would only be prolonging the inevitable. She stood quietly, as Kozik had placed a hand on her shoulder and then followed Hutch towards the clubhouse.

"Nat, I know it's been a tough 24 or so hours for you, but we need to talk," she nodded solemnly, turning to face her Uncle Lee, who suddenly looked much older. She hadn't seen this much worry in the old man's face since he was remanded into custody and she was taken away by child protective services 12 years earlier.

"I know," she mumbled weakly – clearly seeing for the first time the burdens that others – Koz and Autie – had knowingly bared for her. "Can I at least go shower, clean up a bit?"

Lee nodded before leaning in and hugging her tightly. "It's going to be okay, Natalie. We just need to make sure you're okay. And though I can't imagine how you'd be tangled up with the Kings, we need to discuss that too…so we can know how to best protect you." Natalie wasn't naïve enough to believe that the interrogation that was likely to follow was only in her best interest, but she did appreciate the effort that her Uncle was putting in to try to ease her worries, even if it was misguided.

She nodded and smiled weakly before breaking away from her uncle and heading towards her apartment.

When she emerged almost 30 minutes later, she was no more ready to face the verbal firing squad. The parking lot was empty, save for the line of bikes, all present and accounted for. Her Uncle had closed the garage in her absence and in preparation for this conversation. Under normal circumstances, the "coming to god" with the Sons – so to say – would cause Natalie to crack. She wasn't really the kind of person you would consider emotionally fragile, but there was only so much that any person could handle and having to relive a violent attack to a room full of calloused bikers wasn't the easiest thing in the world. Especially since she'd buried it so deeply for so long. Fortunately, the confrontation yesterday, the ensuing processing at the police station, a restless night and facing a judge this morning had left her exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally.

Pausing briefly at the entrance to the clubhouse, she raked an unsure hand through her wet hair, careful to avoid the now exposed stitches and gathered herself for a moment, before clearing her face of emotion, setting her jaw and pushing the door open.


End file.
